Insertion: Reflux!
by ContraBardus
Summary: Ranma Saotome has voices in his head once again. However, you might know these voices yourself this time...heh.
1. Default Chapter

This is just something I'm toying with, it was an idea that I  
discussed with some folks in a chat last night, thought I'd put it  
down. This won't be anywhere near the length of Insertion. Like I  
said, this is really just some fun on my part.  
  
Insertion: Reflux  
  
Part 1  
  
A whole new mess!  
  
++++++++++++  
  
L-sama, the Lord of Chaos...was bored.  
  
Over the course of time they had grown used to their station in the  
universe. It had been eons since their own ascension, the flow of time  
had gone on as always, and their time upon the worlds they had created  
had ended long ago. Now, to most they were mere legends, if they were  
remembered at all.  
  
Still, things continued on as always, ruling the universes was time  
consuming, and now, a special time for them was coming in their fourth  
creation.  
  
Carrot sighed as he looked down from the heavens at the fledgling  
universe and frowned. "This one is so...normal."  
  
"That was the point," commented Xianfu irritably.  
  
"Yeah, but we already know what'll happen here," responded Carrot.  
  
"So?" said Ranma.  
  
"What should we do then?" asked Pissant cheerfully. "I'm kinda bored  
myself."  
  
Dan snorted as something seemed to hit him suddenly. "Carrot, you  
wouldn't."  
  
"Already done!" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
Hotaru walked up to him, she was as young as ever, her mortal life  
long since ended. "What are you doing?"  
  
L-sama turned to look at her, suddenly growing rigid. "N-nothing  
dear..."  
  
"What have you done now?" she said with a small sigh as she walked up  
to what they were doing and peered down.  
  
"Again? Can't you just leave him alone?"  
  
The god smiled at her weakly. "No, not really."  
  
Hotaru sighed and hung her head. "I suppose there's nothing I can do  
about it. Thinking about retiring already?"  
  
"No, we were just bored," said the Supreme Being cheerfully.  
  
"Well, I suppose there's nothing I can do," she said with a small  
sigh.  
  
"Come on, it'll be fun!" responded L-sama cheerfully.  
  
Hotaru smirked at this and shook her head. "All right, just don't be  
to hard on him." She turned and walked away.  
  
"Man that was close," muttered Carrot as he turned back to the  
universe again.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Sesshomaru frowned as he looked at the small books in his hands.  
"Pathetic," he muttered as he flipped through the pages. There were  
several small volumes that the girl, Kagome, had dropped in her  
travels with his pathetic half brother. Rin had grown quite attached  
to them.  
  
He sighed and continued to read, not certain why. He wasn't aware of  
it, but over the course of time, the girl had lost almost the entire  
collections. Now, most of that was now in his possession.  
  
"These humans are pathetic," he muttered as he frowned at the book.  
"Surely, I, Sesshomaru, would do a much better job of telling such  
tales than this." He pondered this for a moment and stood up.  
Taking a pen in his hand, he began to scrawl on a scroll he had hidden  
in his robes.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Amelia Wil De Seyruun sat in the library of her father's palace. It  
was a stuffy place, with books lining the walls from one end to the  
other. She blushed guiltily as she flipped through one of the small  
books she had discovered in the corner. She had read them all, and now  
she was doing it again.  
  
They were tails of wonderful fantasy, from lands distant and  
impossible. It was a wonderful feeling to immerse herself in them.  
Unfortunately, she was supposed to be studying. She knew she would  
pass any test she was given though, so she allowed herself the  
pleasure. She did feel bad about doing it though anyway.  
  
With a small wistful sigh she clutched one of the books against her  
chest and smiled. "I wish I could write such wonderful stories!"  
  
After a moment of enjoying the warm fuzzy feeling, compounded with  
guilty pleasure, she blinked. "Hey. Why can't I?"  
  
She looked around and found several unused scrolls sitting on one of  
the desks nearby. With a shrug of her shoulders, she walked over and  
picked one of them up.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Gai Daigoji was bored.  
  
It wasn't so much boredom, as much as his collection was still in  
storage. He had just moved into his small apartment. Having heard of a  
project that could fulfill his dreams. His dream to become a Sentai  
hero, and pilot a Giant Robot. It would be just like his beloved  
Gekkiganger!  
  
Unfortunately, in his rush, he'd grabbed the wrong box. Now, he had to  
wait for his beloved Gekkiganger recordings to arrive with the movers.  
There were several other manga spread out on the floor around him.  
He'd been nostalgic for a time, having read them all in his youth  
before. Now, he really wanted his Gekkiganger back.  
  
"Man, this sucks! No great transformations, no saving the galaxy from  
evil from beyond space, no..." He sighed and hung his head as he  
looked at the manga for a moment. "No really big fists crashing  
through buildings on its way to crush the enemy! No Gekkigen Flare..."  
He was almost to the point of tears.  
  
Suddenly, and idea hit him. "Hey. Why can't these stories have all  
that?" He glanced around at the manga, with a maddening idea forming  
in his head. It was good, too good.  
  
"That's it! I'll make one!"  
  
He chuckled at his own genius and pulled a small laptop computer over  
from the corner. "Man, this will be so cool!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Faye sat staring at...well nothing. The computer in front of her  
flickered as she simply bored holes into the screen with her eyes as  
best she could. She lazily tapped one of the keys and sighed.  
  
The Bebop was still a week away from anything interesting, and she had  
nothing to do but wait. Spike and Jet were probably grunting like  
animals, and Edward...well she was doing much the same thing she was.  
The young girl was over in the corner in a sort of daze.  
  
She glanced over at the girl and rolled her eyes as a tiny string of  
drool fell from the girl's mouth as she stared into her goggles and  
typed.  
  
"This is pathetic," she muttered to herself as she noticed the dog  
staring at her.  
It whined and perked its ears up, lifting its head to look at her.  
  
"What the heck are you staring at?" she grumbled irritably.  
  
The dog yipped and jumped out of the chair, scurrying away to  
somewhere safer.  
  
"I just wish I had something to do," she muttered as she turned back  
to the computer screen.  
  
With a small sigh, she opened an old folder that she had read many  
times over the course of her voyages. Images flickered on the screen,  
manga images that she'd seen a hundred times before. "I've read all  
this before, I need something new. Maybe I should pick up another disk  
when we finally get wherever it is we're going," she sighed and closed  
out the file, opening a new one.  
  
A word processor. She furrowed her brow and glanced over at Ed for a  
moment. "I'd never live it down if the others found out about this."  
She decided that she would delete the files after she had finished  
writing. It was just to pass the time anyway.  
  
She started typing.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Jusenkyo, once again fate played its role. Ranma Saotome felt the icy  
chill of the spring cover his body as he fell in. The shock numbing  
his body for a moment and leaving him senseless.  
  
A familiar sound, one that another like him had heard once before. The  
sound was bigger this time, like four astral coconuts slamming into  
one another. The echo sending ripples across the fabric of space and  
time.  
The coconuts all rubbed their heads in irritation and were immediately  
confused by their situation.  
Time stood still for a single instant. The tiny bits of souls taken  
from those writing, formed into more complete beings in a half  
second's time; each trying to exact the changes needed to start the  
story they desired.  
Unfortunately, the stories they desired were all completely different,  
and something shorted out once again.  
  
This time, it really was some sort of grand design.  
  
Ranma climbed out of the water as the guide's voice registered inside  
his head; no, her head. "Oh sir! You fall in Spring of Drowned Girl!"  
  
The redheaded pigtailed girl blinked and looked down at her new  
breasts. Anger rose, then was quickly released as she found a target  
for her rage.  
  
The panda that was looking at her dumbly from just outside the  
springs.  
  
"Old man! Prepare to die!"  
  
The chase was on.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"STOOOOPPPPP!"  
  
Ranma slammed to a stop, his father continuing onward in front of him.  
"Huh?"  
  
"Where am I? I'll destroy you for this human! How dare you..." snarled  
an angry male voice.  
  
"Whoa," muttered another male.  
  
"Um, excuse me," said a quiet female voice nervously.  
  
"What the hell? Where am I?" said another voice, this time, an angry  
woman.  
  
"Who's there? Come out!" said Ranma a she whipped around and put up  
her fists to be ready for anything.  
  
"Um, I don't think that's going to be possible," said the quiet female  
voice.  
  
"When I get my claws on the foolish sorcerer who would dare do this to  
I, I will tear him apart slowly, so he will feel an eternity of agony  
before I allow him to die!"  
  
Ranma blinked, unable to do much else. "Huh?" Her hand moved up to her  
forehead and she clutched at her temples for a moment. "This is  
definitely not good," said her own voice. However, she was certain she  
hadn't said a word.  
  
"Oh shit," agreed herself in a more masculine tone.  
  
Ranma screamed and fell to her knees, only to find her own fist  
hooking across her jaw.  
"Human! How dare you bring me to my knees! I'll destroy you!" snarled  
the angry voice.  
  
Ranma's mind broke, and she passed out cold.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A few moments later, she found herself walking again. Actually, she  
woke up walking. "GAH!" She stopped cold and there was silence. "Oh  
god. I've gone insane!"  
  
"Don't worry! We'll find a way to fix this!" said the young female  
voice firmly.  
  
"We'd better," agreed the woman.  
  
"What the heck is goin on?" muttered the confused sounding male.  
  
"It appears we have been stuck, inside the mind of a human," snarled  
the vicious voice. It had calmed considerably though. "No doubt, some  
foolish sorcerers spell. We'll find a way to break it, and then I'll  
kill you all for inconveniencing me."  
  
Ranma blinked, she'd heard that voice before somewhere. She couldn't  
place it though and sighed. "What's going on?"  
  
"We're stuck in your head," said the woman.  
  
"Who are you people?" muttered Ranma forcefully.  
  
"My name is Amelia Wil De Seyruun," said the youngest of the girls  
cheerfully.  
  
Everyone else was silent at this announcement.  
  
"That's impossible!" said the woman in shock.  
  
"Hey, poor kid. Must have cruel parents to name you after someone like  
that," commented the male.  
  
The angry voice snorted in disgust, but said nothing. It was easy to  
tell he's surprised.  
  
"You've heard of me? Well, I guess I am a princess..."  
  
"Who are you really?" snapped the woman. "Quit joking around! This is  
serious!"  
  
"Enough of this! I, Sesshomaru, will not allow such..."  
  
If everyone could have stared at him, they would have. As it was, they  
simply remained silent. The voice paused when he realized this and  
stopped his speech. "So, you know me as well it seems. Good, then you  
know my power! I'll..."  
  
"I bet this is Spike's idea of a joke!" snorted the woman. "I'll get  
him for this."  
  
"Sesshomaru?" muttered Amelia with a slight wavering to her voice.  
"You're...Fluffy?"  
  
"Yes! It is...what?"  
  
Ranma couldn't help it. He burst into laughter.  
  
"Be silent! Or I'll..."  
  
"You'll what? Tear your own throat out?" snorted the woman.  
  
Sesshomaru growled at this angrily. "I just might."  
  
"Well, if we're doing this, I might as well play along until we figure  
this out," said the woman with a small sigh. "My name is Faye  
Valentine."  
  
"And I, am Gai Daigoji!" announced the last voice proudly. "Soon, I'll  
be the star of my own Sentai adventure! Well, as soon as I get my  
security clearance anyway. So, I can't stay long...I've got too..."  
  
"I'm sensing a pattern here," snorted Faye irritably. "This has got to  
be some kind of joke."  
  
"How is it I know all your names?" snarled Sesshomaru. "You should be  
honored that I know of you, to not be completely beneath my notice  
is..."  
  
"Will somebody shut him up?" said Ranma irritably as she simply sat in  
the dirt and stared at the tree line around them.  
  
"What? You dare!"  
  
"What's your name kid?" asked Faye.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," replied the redhead as she hung her head and simply  
looked at the dirt. "I think I've just gone crazy."  
  
Silence reigned once again.  
  
Finally, she found herself being pulled to her feet by her own body  
once again.  
  
"What are you doing?" said Sesshomaru irritably. He had calmed down  
once again, and was trying to work out the spell that had done this to  
him.  
  
"Going back to Jusenkyo, maybe we can get some help," said Amelia.  
  
"Bah! I have no need of help! I'll destroy this spell, and its worker,  
easily." snorted Sesshomaru.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
The guide began to sweat as he stared at his captor fearfully. "I no  
can help sir!" He was hanging upside-down on a tree branch near his  
home. His entire body was wrapped in a thick rope.  
  
"Choose your words carefully, Human," snarled the redhead.  
  
"Sir! Please! I am just humble guide to Jusenkyo! I not know magic  
that make cursed pools! It very tragic story!" whimpered the man  
pathetically.  
  
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Amelia in a sort of  
horrified tone as she watched helplessly. "I mean, he's  
so...harmless."  
  
"We're only scaring him right now, don't worry. Besides, Fluffy is  
doing a good job. Maybe we can get him to give us some information  
about what happened to us," said Faye.  
  
"Still, it seems so wrong! We should at least give him the chance  
to..."  
  
"No way! I've got an appointment to keep! I'm gonna get my very own  
Gekkiganger next week!" cried Gai.  
  
"Shut up Yamada," snorted Faye.  
  
"My name is...!" started Gai indignantly.  
  
"Yamada Yojiro," replied Faye calmly.  
  
"It isn't right! We should cut him down!" said Amelia.  
  
"No way! Not until he fixes this!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"You won't interfere!" snarled Sesshomaru. "...and desist in calling  
me Fluffy!"  
  
"Sure thing, Fluffykins," said Faye fearlessly.  
  
"I shall be sure to deal with you later," snarled the demon angrily.  
He turned his attention back to the guide.  
  
The man whimpered as the rather intimidating young girl narrowed her  
eyes at him and put her nose up to his face. "If you won't help, I  
don't have any use for you."  
  
"Wait! Curse of Jusenkyo have cure!" cried the man suddenly.  
  
"Oh?" asked the girl.  
  
"Yes, hot water return to normal, but only until next time hit by cold  
water!" cried the Guide.  
  
"Very well," said the girl as she turned away and walked towards his  
home. The man was left hanging there.  
  
"Sir, you cut me down now? Yes?"  
  
"Be glad you're still alive, human," snorted the redhead as she closed  
the door behind herself.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"I'm a man again!" cried Ranma in triumph.  
  
"What? He lied to us!" snarled Fluffy.  
  
"I don't think he did," said Amelia.  
  
"Explain," said Sesshomaru with a dangerous cool to his voice.  
  
"I mean, from what I've read, the springs of Jusenkyo don't do things  
like this to people. It just changes their body."  
The demon went silent and thought about it for a moment. Finally, he  
sighed. "So, it is someone else at work. Very well, we shall leave and  
search this fool down."  
  
"Hey, what about Pop?" said Ranma as he halted them suddenly.  
  
"What about him?" snorted Sesshomaru.  
  
"Yeah? Why should we wait for that fat bastard?" snarled Faye.  
  
"At last! Genma Saotome can be brought to Justice!" exclaimed Amelia.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly. "What the heck are you talking about?"  
  
"It's...nothing," said Faye. "In any case, he's right. We've got to  
find a way out of this mess."  
  
"We don't even know where to start though," pointed out Amelia.  
  
"I grow tired of this!" snarled Sesshomaru as he tried to force them  
to walk again. The others countered his efforts, and he found himself  
unable to move.  
  
"I've got a feeling, that we're stuck like this for a while," said  
Faye.  
  
"You have no idea," said an unfamiliar voice.  
  
The group turned around and found themselves staring at a man with a  
smirk on his face. He was leaning against the doorway and watching  
them calmly.  
  
"Who are you?" snorted Faye.  
  
"L-sama," responded the man.  
  
"Wha?" said Amelia in shock.  
  
Sesshomaru went completely rigid. "It can't be..."  
  
"Oh come now Sesshomaru, you exist, why shouldn't I?" said the man  
with a small chuckle.  
  
"You'd better explain what's going on! You did this didn't you?"  
snapped Ranma.  
  
"Stand down," said Sesshomaru firmly, he was watching the figure  
cautiously. Absolute terror and awe seemed to fill every part of his  
body.  
  
"You all got exactly what you wished for," said L-sama calmly. He  
waved his hand, and Ranma passed out again.  
The others were still awake though. "I thought I'd be nice and explain  
what happened to you, since no one else will."  
  
"What's going on? Who is this Gai?" asked Faye.  
  
"If what he claims is true, then he is L-sama, the Lord of Chaos,"  
said Sesshomaru as he tensed his body. "No Demon, no matter how  
strong, would dare make a claim to that name if it was not true."  
  
"He's a demon?" asked Faye.  
  
"More like a god," said L-sama with a small shrug. "In any case, none  
of you are going home."  
  
"What?" cried Gai in shock. "No, I've got..."  
  
"And you're going to take that test. You four are nothing but part of  
the original soul. It happens whenever someone writes a story like the  
ones you had started. Quite simple really, you shouldn't be aware at  
all. A little piece of you goes into the story, to create the reality  
you desire in your mind. However, the four of you all started the same  
story, at the same time. So, you shorted each other out so to speak,  
and became aware. The real you, is in another universe, completely  
unaware of what's happening."  
  
"So, we're stuck like this?" asked Amelia in shock.  
  
"Yes. You can't tell Ranma what I've told you either," said L-sama  
with a small chuckle. "You'll remember though."  
  
"Why shouldn't we?" asked Faye irritably.  
  
"You can try, but you won't be able too," said Sesshomaru with an  
unusual calm about him.  
  
"So...no Gekkiganger?" whimpered Gai pathetically.  
  
"Enjoy your new life," said L-sama.  
  
"Great," grumbled Faye.  
  
"Wow," agreed Amelia.  
  
"I cannot endure this humiliation! To live as a human? I'd rather be  
destroyed!"  
  
"Oh and Sesshomaru?" said L-sama.  
  
The young boy's head snapped up to look at L- sama.  
  
"I like you, but Inu Yasha wins," said the man as he chuckled and  
vanished.  
All that was left, was the young boy standing there with his mouth  
hanging open.  
  
"Um, maybe we should find this kid's dad?" asked Gai as he finally  
broke the silence.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"What are you kidding? We need to be as far away from that jerk as we  
can get!" snapped Faye.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"I can't bear the thought of taking a son away from his family, but  
Miss Faye is right!" agreed Amelia strongly.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"That man isn't fit to be a parent," said Faye as she glared at the  
door for a moment.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"It wouldn't be just to subject Mr. Ranma to such a horrible man! I  
can't allow it!" agreed Amelia.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"So, what do we do now?" asked Gai.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"Come on, we're getting out of here. Is there a spaceport around  
here?" asked Faye.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"They don't have space travel in this time, remember?" grumbled Gai.  
"No robots, not even little ones." He sounded like he was about to cry  
again. "My life is over."  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
Ranma groaned and opened his eyes. "What happened? Where the heck are  
we?" He blinked when he noticed them opening the door. "Hey, where are  
we goin?"  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"Away from here," said Faye.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"What fer? Where's Pop, we can't just leave him here," said Ranma as  
he glanced around.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
"Why not?" asked Faye.  
  
"..." said Fluffy.  
  
And so it went...the beginning of something new.  
  
++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	2. Insertion Reflux 2

Insertion Reflux  
  
Part 2  
  
A Chinese demon story!  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was frustrated and angry, the strange voices in his head had  
been wandering across China, for almost two weeks now. There was  
little he could do to stop the kidnapping either, and he was forced  
along for the ride. "Where the hell are we goin?" demanded the boy.  
  
"We told you already, we're going to find a city and get some  
cash," replied Faye calmly.  
  
"God I could use a beer," grumbled Gai irritably.  
  
"Yes, we should find a place to rest inside, we need a bath,"  
commented Amelia.  
  
"It will still not remove the insufferable stench of this human  
body," growled Sesshoumaru.  
  
They were walking down a mountain pass in their female form, they  
were still damp from the last rain shower, but the sky was sunny and  
only a few clouds remained above them.  
  
"We gotta find Pop!" growled Ranma.  
  
"Why?" replied Sesshoumaru and Faye at the same time.  
  
"I..." Ranma couldn't think of a good answer. "Because! I can't  
just leave him there!"  
  
"Why not? He's a big boy," commented Faye.  
  
Amelia wrung their hands pensively, but remained silent.  
  
"Stop that worm!" growled Sesshoumaru as he jerked their hands  
apart violently.  
  
"Sorry," muttered the girl quietly.  
  
"Where the heck are we anyway?" grumbled Gai. They suddenly found  
themselves standing in a clearing. The forest was silent and not even  
the rustle of the wind disturbed the scene.  
  
"Whoa, creepy," said Gai dumbly.  
  
Sesshoumaru froze them suddenly. "I sense magic."  
  
"I feel something too," agreed Amelia. She didn't sound very  
comfortable with the feeling though.  
  
"What?" said Faye in confusion. "I don't feel anything."  
  
"A force...from that way," said Sesshoumaru as he pointed and  
turned them towards it.  
  
"Maybe we shouldn't," said Amelia nervously.  
  
"Silence worm! This magic...it feels familiar too me," said the  
demon coldly as he tried to force them to continue.  
  
"Now I know we shouldn't go," said Gai flatly.  
  
"What? What magic?"  
  
"You have Youkai in this world?" asked Sesshoumaru calmly as he  
stopped struggling for a moment.  
  
"How the heck would I know?" grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"Youkai?" asked Faye as she looked in the direction they were  
heading. "No freaking way! Come on, we're going this way!"  
  
Sesshoumaru snorted. "Fool. Do you think I would willingly seek  
out another Youkai in this position?! This is Youkai magic, not Youkai  
life force. It could aid us."  
  
"You mean aid you," commented Gai, he was getting tired of all  
this wandering around, and had been growing more edgy as of late.  
  
"Humph. Another of my kind would not hesitate to strike us down in  
order to gain my power. We need protection," said Sesshoumaru coldly.  
"This body alone, will not be enough."  
  
"Hey!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Don't be a fool human," said the demon coldly. "I have powers you  
cannot begin to comprehend, until we find a way to cure ourselves of  
this condition, we must be prepared to fight. Do not take my warning  
lightly, we will need magic to protect this pathetic frame until I can  
find a suitable body of my own."  
  
Amelia shuddered at the implications of that. She'd been  
relatively quiet so far, but didn't feel like arguing with a monster  
if she could help it. The truth of the matter was, that she could see  
his point. Her magic hadn't been working since they had arrived on  
this plane, and she suspected that Sesshoumaru was having similar  
difficulties. She hadn't dared voice this concern about the monster.  
  
"So? What are we going to do?" asked Gai with a sort of tired  
sounding sigh.  
  
"Keep going and ignore Fluffy that's what," replied Faye.  
  
"Go find Pop!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Sesshoumaru is right," said Amelia suddenly.  
  
"What?" said the demon as he blinked suddenly.  
  
"My magic doesn't work, I'll bet his doesn't either. We need  
something to protect ourselves from monsters."  
  
"Hey, they're ain't no stupid monsters around here!" snapped  
Ranma.  
  
"Then where did that power I feel come from?" replied Sesshoumaru  
with a sort of dead finality to his voice. "The Youkai do exist here,  
I can feel the life force of my people, although, it is weaker than in  
my own world. That does not mean that your power will be enough to  
face it human. They will destroy us, if we are not prepared."  
  
"Why would they care?" grumbled Gai. "I mean, you're one of them  
and stuff."  
  
"My kind would not hesitate to strike down one as strong as myself  
in such a weak condition," replied Sesshoumaru flatly. "I would do the  
same."  
  
"Oh! You must be so lonely!" exclaimed Amelia.  
  
Sesshoumaru slapped himself calmly.  
  
"Thank you," said Faye as she turned their gaze in the direction  
they were originally heading. "In any case, I guess it wouldn't hurt  
to go and see. I know I'm wrong about that though."  
  
Sesshoumaru chuckled at this response. Once he had the power in  
his grasp, he would use it to destroy the meddlesome rodents and take  
the body as his own. He had been purposely leading them in this  
direction for several days now. Edging and prodding slightly, but they  
were about to veer off at the last moment, their human instincts  
telling them to avoid this place like all the animals that were absent  
from the area.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"The boy went this way, I'm sure of it," grumbled Genma as he  
followed his son's trail. He'd run off after Jusenkyo. He could  
understand the boy being upset with him after that episode, even if it  
wasn't his fault in any way. Surely he would explain things to his  
son, and then beat him into going back to Japan with him.  
  
Originally, he had intended to return home to his wife after the  
journey ended. Unfortunately, the curse kind of ruled that out for the  
moment. At least for a time anyway. Still, an old promise rang in his  
mind, Soun Tendo and his three daughters, and the engagement to his  
son. That would make for a nice place to lay low until he figured this  
mess out. His son's attitude about women, his arrogance, and the man's  
three daughters would provide for a good excuse to drag things out.  
The girls would no doubt be fighting over which one his son married.  
The boy did take after him a little after all. He was certainly glad  
he hadn't specified which daughter his son would marry. Any of the  
other engagements wouldn't allow the time he needed to smooth things  
over and find a cure. His son would be married within a few weeks.  
That wouldn't be in his best interest, especially if Nodoka found out  
she had missed her son's wedding. Soun was the only man with whom the  
engagement was between multiple daughters.  
  
If things started to go too smoothly, well, he still had that  
Kuonji kid's address. That would certainly help stir things up if he  
got in trouble. With a little fast talk, that could all be pinned on  
his son anyway, just a little pain on his part in the beginning. "Oh!  
We were starving! I couldn't afford the both of you! Besides, it was  
Ranma's decision!" He smirked too himself as he trudged onward,  
careful not to lose the trail as he went.  
  
Why, he could probably even help Soun with the wedding plans! His  
son would fight any attempt to force him into anything tooth and nail!  
The poor sap, it would be like old times anyway. He did like the man  
after all, and really did consider him his best friend.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What is this place?" muttered Ranma in awe as he glanced around  
the small cavern. Inside was an altar of some kind.  
  
"A grave," said Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"A grave?" muttered Amelia nervously.  
  
"Cool," said Gai despite himself. The room was small, but the  
carvings were ornate and it was very impressive.  
  
"Whoa! That looks like bad news," muttered Faye.  
  
A gigantic fanged goat's head was carved in the stone above their  
heads. Various burnt out candles lined the walls, and two claws seemed  
to melt out of the stone and onto sides of the small flat altar. There  
was dried blood caked onto the surface and the bones of various  
offerings were scattered around. Animals mostly, but there were a few  
questionable remains as well.  
  
Sesshoumaru snorted in disgust. "Someone has been worshiping this  
carcass. Foolish humans, to stupid to realize your master has been  
dead for thousands of years?" He kicked one of the larger bones aside.  
"Feh, cows. Pathetic offerings at best."  
  
"There's nothing here!" grumbled Faye in irritation. She was  
slightly relieved though, even though it was well hidden in her voice.  
  
"I don't like this place! Can we go now?" said Amelia nervously as  
she made them glance around.  
  
"Yeah, you said it," agreed Ranma with his nervousness well hidden  
away. Something didn't feel right in the place, he couldn't put his  
finger on it, but it was making him feel very weird.  
  
"Hmmm, this magic is for a specific Youkai to open. No matter, it  
is easily dismissed," said the demon as he waved his palm. Nothing  
happened. "Curse this body!" he growled as he looked at his hand  
again.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Ranma in confusion.  
  
"I am blocked from my power by this accursed form!" snarled the demon.  
"A moment if you will..."  
  
Everyone stood in silent confusion as Fluffy closed their eyes.  
  
"Hey! I was lookin at that!" said Gai as he forced them open again  
and continued to peer at a carving of a nude woman.  
  
Both females promptly slapped him and their eyes closed again.  
  
Sesshoumaru growled in irritation, but continued to concentrate.  
"I must feel the flow of this spell, and find the words. Be silent at  
once!"  
  
"Whatever," grumbled Ranma as he rolled their eyes. It wasn't  
quite as effective with their eyes closed at the same time.  
  
"I have it! " growled the demon in triumph. He muttered something  
unintelligible, which didn't sound like any human could make such  
noises. Ranma found himself blinking from the weird feeling of the so-  
called 'words' that came out of their mouth.  
  
"Oh! Excuse us!" exclaimed Amelia as she blushed.  
  
Waves of evil power poured from the opening, the young redhead  
staggered back from the sheer force of the released energy, even  
though it left no visible wake or sound.  
  
"What the?" gasped Ranma.  
  
"No! What have we done?!" cried Amelia in horror.  
  
"Stop simpering! You have nothing to fear here! This Youkai has  
been dead for thousands of years," snorted Sesshoumaru as he walked  
towards the altar. The stone carving split open to accommodate him and  
he strolled into the opening.  
  
"No way!" gasped Ranma in shock. A skeletal image of the carving  
on the front was sitting on a throne inside a huge hole dug out in the  
stone. It was the same size as the statue outside, and its head was  
easily as big as they were.  
  
Sesshoumaru frowned as he glared at the thing for a moment and  
moved them forward boldly. "Ah, this is it."  
  
It was a sword, long worn and ratted with time. The hilt was  
frayed and rusted, but the blade was hidden in a rather decrepit  
looking hilt It was a Tai-chi long sword, but it had a sort of  
ethereal glow to it.  
  
"What is that?" grumbled Faye. "What a piece of junk."  
  
"I doubt it," said Gai calmly.  
  
"How the heck did such a big monster use such a little sword?"  
muttered Amelia dumbly.  
  
Everyone ignored her as they stared at the blade.  
  
"That thing...it feels wrong," said Ranma as he forced them to  
step back.  
  
"Even I can feel that thing is bad," said Gai as he nodded their  
head in agreement.  
  
"What did you expect? It is a Youkai blade after all," snorted  
Sesshoumaru. "It should suffice for now." He reached for it and his  
hand froze.  
  
"Don't touch that thing! I don't want it on us!" snapped Faye.  
  
"What? You dare?!" growled the demon angrily as he struggled to  
move forward. All three of the other occupants forced him back though,  
slowly moving out of the cavern. The walls closed in front of them and  
they staggered outside.  
  
Fluffy had gone deathly silent. "You will regret this." His voice  
was pure venom as he said this. "I will make you suffer for defying  
me."  
  
"Yeah, blow it out yer ass," commented Gai lazily. "I didn't feel  
like becoming some lame ass bishonen villain anyway. We're destined to  
become the hero! Right Ranma?" He put his fist up in front of his face  
and smirked.  
  
"That's the spirit Mr. Yamada!" squealed Amelia happily. "We'll  
stand for justice!"  
  
"I thought I told you to call me 'Gai'!" snapped the man angrily.  
  
"Idiots," grumbled Faye as they started to move again.  
  
"Can we go find my Pop now?" asked Ranma.  
  
None of them noticed the door inside the cavern open slowly behind  
them. The area of silence around the place had just tripled in size.  
Animals moved further away, and humans in nearby villages shuddered as  
a chill ran down their collective spines.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Two days later....  
  
Genma frowned as he peered into the cave where his son's trail  
lead. "What the?" He glanced around the room and blinked dumbly. It  
was empty and quiet, without a single trace of the boy inside. He had  
noticed his son's tracks moving away from the small cave, but  
curiosity got the better of him in the end. Staring at the split  
altar he peered into the shadows for a long moment. "What is this  
place? Where am I?" The area indicated on his map was unmarked,  
uncharted territory so to speak, probably only known by the locals. He  
turned towards the door and paused.  
  
Several men in long black cloaks were standing there staring at  
him.  
  
"Um, hello," said Genma dumbly. "Shit! Who the hell?" his mind  
screamed. The looks of the altar told him these people were not very  
friendly.  
  
"The door! It has opened!" gasped one of the men.  
  
"You did this?" gasped another man in shock.  
  
"I...uh...gotta go now..." said Genma with a fake nervousness as  
he tensed his body to spring. The men didn't look like much, he'd  
probably easily overpower them.  
  
"The chosen one! He has come!" gasped another one of the men.  
  
All of them promptly bowed deeply to him.  
  
Genma stared at this for a long moment and blinked. "Pardon?"  
  
"He who will lead us into a new age of darkness, where only the  
loyal shall remain all powerful! We await your command master!"  
  
"I dared not believe the legends true! Our dark master has  
returned! Reborn into this world once again!"  
  
"Master?" prodded Genma.  
  
"He does not possess the sword," said a tall dark man as he walked  
into the room He was shrouded in a hood like his comrades, but the  
effect was much more as it had been intended with him. He leveled his  
eyes on Genma and gave him a piercing glare. "He is not the one."  
  
Genma stepped back and looked over his shoulder. Without a  
moment's thought he grasped the sword from the big ugly skeleton  
without even realizing what had been holding it. It flashed for a  
brief moment in his hand and he grinned at the man sheepishly. "This  
sword?"  
  
The man's eyes went wide and he immediately fell to his knees.  
"Master!"  
  
Genma had sweat pouring from his brow at this. The others would  
have been pushovers, but this man was undoubtedly strong.  
  
"After all this time! It has come to pass! Tell us, what has  
brought you here, Master?" said the tall man. Much of his menace was  
gone now.  
  
"Um, well...I was looking for the boy..."  
  
"Fetch the Master some young boys! His hungers must be sated!"  
cried the tall man as he jerked his head back to his companions.  
  
"What?" said Genma as he did a double take.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"We still ain't found no stupid city," grumbled Ranma as he looked  
out over the valley before them.  
  
"This is getting frustrating," agreed Faye as she glared out  
across the village below them.  
  
"I'm tired, and we're hungry," said Amelia as she turned their  
head down to their stomach.  
  
Sesshoumaru snorted and snapped his hand out, a small bird was  
fluttering in his hand, snatched from the sky in an instant. "We  
should eat then." It squawked loudly as he pulled it towards his mouth  
and continued to walk as if the conversation never started.  
  
"GAAAHH!" cried Gai.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!" agreed Faye in equal revulsion as  
she and Amelia threw the bird on the ground.  
  
"Was he gonna do what I think he was gonna do?" asked Ranma  
nervously.  
  
"You spoke of hunger, and now you reject perfectly good food?"  
snorted Sesshoumaru as he watched the bird flutter away.  
  
"Idiot! We can't eat it raw!" snapped Faye angrily.  
  
"Why?" was the somewhat puzzled reply.  
  
"Because! We could get sick! Who knows what kind of terrible  
diseases that poor innocent bird might have had!" cried Amelia.  
  
"Bah, this pathetic body annoys me more with each passing day,"  
growled Sesshoumaru as he looked down at himself for a moment.  
  
"What kind of nutcase are you?" exclaimed Gai.  
  
"Well...he is a Youkai..." muttered Amelia. "Mr. Fluffy, we can't  
eat live animals that way. I'm sorry if that's what you're used  
too..." said Amelia.  
  
Ranma felt his eye twitch at the demons reaction to the name.  
Thinking quickly he pressed forward. "Maybe we can get some food from  
this village?"  
  
"I don't see how, we don't have any money," said Faye. She smirked  
slightly as she thought about it. "I'm sure we can work something  
out."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shampoo, the reigning champion of Joketzuko village, was defending  
her title of the strongest warrior once again. It was a great  
tournament, held every year at this time. She had reigned supreme for  
almost four years now. There was that one incident, but she had the  
flu that year. Dowel had paid dearly for the insult in the end though.  
Now, she simply crushed any and all of her opponents with her sheer  
power.  
  
A large ugly Amazon woman with a spiked mace stood off against her  
on the other side of the log. "We meet again Shampoo. I hope you're  
not as gentle with me as you were the others."  
  
The purple haired amazon merely smirked. She always enjoyed  
beating Lotion.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What the heck is going on?" asked Ranma as he glanced around.  
  
"There is food there," said Sesshoumaru as he nodded towards a  
nearby table.  
  
"Hey, you know what happens if we eat that don't you?" said Gai.  
  
"Bah, so what? Like that weak creature could defeat Sesshoumaru,"  
snorted the demon casually.  
  
"Stealing is wrong!" snapped Amelia.  
  
"You humans and your morals, we are the strongest. Why should we  
not choose what we want and take it?" replied the voice casually.  
  
"Because it's more trouble than it's worth," said Faye as she  
stopped Sesshoumaru's actions cold.  
  
"What the heck are you talkin about? Why shouldn't we eat? It's  
just sittin there," said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Because that's the first prize of this tournament," said Faye.  
  
"Great!" said Ranma as he got a cheerful smile on his face. He  
started to step forward.  
  
Amelia was the one who halted him this time. "That's an even worse  
idea Mr. Ranma!"  
  
"Huh? I could beat that chick no problem!" replied the boy's  
voice.  
  
A few of the villagers were giving the redhead odd stares, she was  
moving around among them rather oddly, but hadn't spoken yet.  
  
Faye quickly recounted her knowledge of the amazon marriage laws.  
The redhead went pale, and a few of the villagers started to worry  
about some illness she might be carrying. They edged away from her  
nervously.  
  
After a moment, she simply calmed down and stood there, watching  
the battle. The villagers calmed, no one seemed to care who she was or  
what she wanted. She was a rather small girl, and wasn't armed. She  
was hardly a threat in the crowd of women, and her dogi told them she  
wasn't even trying to disguise that she was an outsider. Let her watch  
and be amazed by the skills of the Amazon women, she had no hope of  
matching such strength anyway.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Cologne sat in her hut, a hot cup of tea in her hands as the  
tournament went on outside. It was a day of celebration and  
relaxation. She would have gone to watch the battles, but the outcome  
was clear again this year. None of the other village girls would stand  
much of a chance against Shampoo. Few of the elders even went to watch  
the fights these days.  
  
She sighed and closed her eyes in contentment. Things were going  
well, and the village was prosperous. More so than it had been in  
centuries. She had a feeling something interesting would start today,  
but perhaps not involve her just yet. It was a time for the youth of  
the village anyway.  
  
A flood of something poured into her mind, she dropped her tea and  
sat upright with her eyes wide with horror. "What? How!?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was growing nervous in the crowd of women. A few of them had  
slapped her on the back roughly and said things to her she didn't  
understand. The purple haired girl had won the fights and had carted  
off her prize, and now women were mulling about talking. Wasn't much  
of a party really.  
  
The redhead kept her eyes open for a shop or stand of some kind.  
Not that she had any money. Faye said she'd take care of that anyway.  
Ranma wasn't sure what she was up too.  
  
After several minutes, they spotted a small cart that was selling  
food.  
  
"Now what?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Just watch!" said Faye cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Step right up! Take your best shot! Find the bean, win the pot!  
Come on!" The redhead had set up a small box that had been discarded  
and had a few small cups set out on the table. A small bean was being  
shuffled around skillfully as she worked her hands quickly. A small  
pile of cash was present on the table, and she now had a wad in her  
pocket.  
  
None of the Amazon women spoke Japanese so far, but they quickly  
caught on to the game. The redhead's face was an unreadable smirk as  
she worked her hands skillfully.  
  
"Man, I never thought I'd be reduced to this again. I haven't done  
this since I was a kid!" lamented Faye mentally.  
  
"This is kinda cool," said Gai as he watched the woman work. Even  
though it was as if his own hands were doing the work, he still  
couldn't quite figure out what he was doing.  
  
Ranma simply gave a small grunt as he studied the woman's hands  
carefully. "It's not very fair if they can't win."  
  
"Huh?" said Gai dumbly.  
  
"We're cheating?!" cried Amelia in horror. "Miss Faye! I cannot  
allow..."  
  
"We aren't cheating," said Faye sourly. "I leave the ball in there  
sometimes, it's luck of the draw, that's all." She didn't explain that  
she was letting some of the women win small pots to keep the others  
coming. Or that the few she had let win, were watching her closely,  
and had sharp enough eyes to see what she was doing. They seemed  
satisfied after collecting a small amount of cash and wandered off. It  
kind of bugged her a little, especially since no less than four  
different women had done that too her. "I must be getting out of  
practice..."  
  
"Halt!" cried an aged voice.  
  
Sesshoumaru's presence suddenly became very clear to them as his  
head jerked up suddenly. "What is this?" A cold smirk formed on their  
face as they looked at the old woman before them. She was barely able  
to stand on her own two feet, but the young girls parted easily in her  
wake. She had a gnarled staff in her grasp with several animal bones  
dangling from the top of it. They clattered as she hobbled over to  
them and narrowed her nearly blind eyes at them. "This one! I smell  
the taint of demons upon her!"  
  
The women around them gasped.  
  
"What'd she say?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"I don't speak Chinese," said Faye flatly.  
  
"This is bad right?" asked Amelia.  
  
"We should leave, this place is about to become very hostile,"  
said Sesshoumaru coolly.  
  
"This one," said the old woman as she moved towards Ranma. She  
cocked her head at an odd angle and started to sniff the air  
delicately. "She is...a fiend of the neither realm!"  
  
"Did any of you understand a word of that?" asked Gai.  
  
"No, but these chicks didn't like whatever she said," commented  
Ranma.  
  
"She's a demon sniffer, I've seen humans like her before. She can  
sense the presence of my kind," replied Sesshoumaru calmly. The women  
around them started to close into a circle.  
  
"That's bad right?" asked Gai.  
  
"Can't we talk about this?" said Faye to the women as she smiled  
and backed into a wall with her hands held up in front of her.  
  
The purple haired girl from the tournament appeared out of the  
crowd armed with a pair of bonbori. "Bad!" She pointed one of the  
weapons at the girl and gave her an evil grin.  
  
"What the hell did we do?" said Ranma nervously.  
  
"Nothing, my mere presence has offended them," replied Sesshoumaru  
in what sounded like amusement.  
  
"What do we do?" asked Amelia.  
  
"What else? We kill them," replied Sesshoumaru with a chuckle. He  
flexed his hand in front of his face with his fingers curled like  
claws.  
  
"Shampoo! No!" cried another aged voice. The amazon women around  
the redhead backed away quite suddenly as another old woman landed in  
the center of the crowd. She was much spryer than the other hag and  
glared at her angrily. "You old fool, this demon might not have even  
known that we had detected it if not for you!"  
  
The first hag hissed at her angrily and snarled. "Without my  
skills."  
  
"What's going on?" asked Ranma.  
  
"They appear to be having a disagreement," said Gai dumbly.  
  
"Time to go," said Faye as she turned them around and bolted. She  
pushed aside several of the warriors in her way. Before she could  
simply shove them, a spray of blood obscured her vision as she tore  
through the crowd. "What?"  
  
"Come, taste my claws humans!" said Sesshoumaru with an evil  
laugh. He had almost yelled this out at the top of his lungs, further  
surprising the women as he tore through them.  
  
"Ouch! Our nails!" screamed Faye in pain as she pulled her arms to  
her sides as she emerged from the other side of the crowd.  
  
The two old women blinked at the scene. There was a path of  
scratched up and rather stupefied looking amazon women standing along  
a clear-cut path. A few of them had some nasty cuts, but nothing more  
than a flesh wound that would leave rather ugly scabs.  
  
"What the?" muttered Cologne.  
  
"Damn you Cologne!" snarled the withered hag.  
  
"Shut up Douche," snorted Cologne irritably. "There was something  
odd about that dark one."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell were you thinking you idiot! We don't have claws!"  
snapped Faye angrily.  
  
"I dunno, that was kinda cool," muttered Gai in confusion.  
  
"That wasn't very brave of us," commented Amelia with a slightly  
whiny tone.  
  
"Damn, now I've got a hangnail!" grumbled Ranma as he looked at  
his hand. He ripped it off with a painful frown and tossed it aside.  
  
"Bah! If we had taken that sword like we should have, we wouldn't  
have had any trouble with that pathetic human scum!"  
  
"The hell! We would have killed them!" said Ranma in shock.  
  
"Of course, they deserve no better," replied Sesshoumaru.  
  
"I won't allow you to harm innocent people that way!" cried  
Amelia.  
  
"Yeah! I don't want to get arrested!" agreed Gai.  
  
"Fools! I, Sesshoumaru..."  
  
Faye pinched their nipple rather sharply.  
  
"Woman! I shall destroy you!" cried Fluffy as he clawed at his  
throat.  
  
"Stop that! This is my body you jerks!" cried Ranma as he did his  
best to stop the pain on both fronts.  
  
"Innocent people?" grumbled Faye. "You do realize that they were  
going to kill us right?"  
  
"Um..." said Amelia in embarrassment. "That's no excuse!" she said  
as she tried to sound heroic and pointed at the sky. "Life is precious  
and must be nurtured and loved and..."  
  
"Human life amounts to little more than dung to me," replied  
Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"How can you say such horrible things?!" said Amelia. "Now I see  
my path, I must show you the error of your ways, fear not Mr. Fluffy.  
I shall show you the truth of love and justice!"  
  
Ranma slapped himself pretty hard, he saw stars for a moment.  
  
"Why did you do that?" cried Amelia.  
  
"I've got a pretty good idea," said Faye.  
  
"You need a new speech writer kid," said Gai with a small sigh.  
  
"Really?" asked the girl quietly.  
  
"Yes, you lack that certain grit that a true hero must hold. A  
dark and brooding presence that says that you're dangerous, but with a  
tenderness that allows you to hold truth and love within, cleverly  
disguised with a false mask of indifference! Only then will you become  
a true hero!"  
  
"Wow Mr. Yamada! You're so smart!" cried Amelia.  
  
"I said call me Gai damn it!"  
  
"Is he for real?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Probably," grumbled Faye.  
  
"Why does our head hurt?" said Amelia as she found their arm  
rubbing at their temple.  
  
"God, I need a drink," muttered Faye miserably.  
  
"Feh," said Sesshoumaru as he ignored this and began to plot his  
next move. He would torment these fools for years after he escaped,  
killing them slowly over the course of centuries until his thirst for  
revenge was satisfied. Now, if only he could figure out a way out of  
the damnable body.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Our course of action is clear," said Cologne as she sat in a  
small room surrounded by other Amazon women near to her own age. "We  
must find this demon."  
  
"Agreed, it must be destroyed," said another of the old women.  
  
Douche snorted in disgust. "It is as I have said from the  
beginning."  
  
The other old women ignored her ranting, with a disturbing  
practiced ease.  
  
Cologne was the next to speak. "So, it is as we said. A hunting  
party will be formed, and we will destroy this monster."  
  
The other elders nodded.  
  
"We must also find out why it was here. What purpose did it  
serve?"  
  
"Tempting our youth with the sin of gambling! Attempting to warp  
their young minds into laziness and debauchery!" cried Douche.  
  
"That seems unlikely," commented Cologne as she spared the woman a  
half glance.  
  
"Perhaps she intended to take all their money, and then convince  
them to bet their very souls?" offered Douche again. "Or worse, their  
very purity!?"  
  
Cologne rolled her eyes at this and turned back to the other  
elders. "In any case, we need to find out what the demon was doing  
here. There are any number of things close to this village that would  
interest their kind. Most of them would spell disaster if they fell  
into such hands."  
  
The other elders nodded in agreement with this and the meeting  
ended.  
  
Douche didn't seem to notice the others leaving and continued to  
rant in the dark. "Perhaps she was a succubus? Hoping to defile our  
pure maidens and steal their love pearls? Or swallow our unborn  
children, and then sell them into prostitution in the demon realm when  
they were reborn as her own spawn?!!..."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Due to popular request, I have continued.  
  
And there was much rejoicing. 


	3. InsertionRE3

Insertion: Reflux  
  
Part 3  
  
Adventures in China.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Wonder how our little project is going?" said Carrot lazily. He, Dan, and Ranma just had a wonderful time bringing about the end of a few worlds. Xianfu was mostly indifferent about the whole affair. Carrot and Ranma both destroyed worlds when they discovered reality television. They were actually pretty forgiving about it and gave them a few years to snap out of it. If they didn't stop they were destroyed mercilessly.   
  
"I dunno. We should check up on him!" cried Pissant a little too cheerfully. The group had to force their arms down to their sides again.   
  
"I thought we told you about doing that!" snapped Xianfu irritably. "Oh look! How cute! The Amazons are all chasing them across China."  
  
"Wow! He pissed all of them off at once?" Ranma actually sounded quite pleased to hear this.  
  
"Looks like it," commented Dan. "Even we never got all of them after us."  
  
"I know, but let's liven it up a bit!" said Carrot.  
  
"Huh? How? Alien invasion?" asked Dan.  
  
"Don't be silly. We save that for the Moroboshi kid remember? Man, that still hasn't gotten old. Remember when we engaged him to a Klingon?"  
  
"Well, I suppose that was a bit funny, sometimes," admitted Pissant. "Still wasn't very nice."  
  
"I thought his face was priceless when she went into heat and took him forcefully. I was amazed he could still walk after that," said Dan.  
  
"It's not like he hated it," muttered Carrot.  
  
"As I recall, he never was really sure how he felt about those encounters," commented Xianfu.   
  
"Whatever. On to the current problem," said Carrot as he forced them to focus on what was going on in that particular Universe. "Let's set Greg after them. He's in the area."  
  
"I dunno. I kind of like Greg," said Ranma.  
  
"Yeah. He's getting old though," pointed out Carrot. "He is rather nasty, and we don't want him to become too powerful. They can't handle something like that right now."  
  
"Guess you've got a point," admitted the original occupant of their former body.  
  
"Gregory it is!" said Carrot.  
  
"Hey. Lost Universe is starting again," said Dan as he noticed something going on in another Universe.  
  
"Yeah. Let's not put Sailor Moon in there this time. I don't think it worked out too well last time. A guy can only take so much posing and glitzy action shots."  
  
"Let's make Popcorn!" cried Pissant.  
  
"What?" snapped Xianfu. "I don't want to end up eating it for seven centuries again! Last time you idiots decided to continuously eat popcorn for Happosai's entire life span!"  
  
"It ain't like you got any fatter," snorted Dan.  
  
"Nah. I was just seeing how long it would take you guys to snap," commented Carrot as a large tub appeared in his arms along with an 'Endless Gulp' (tm). He calmly started munching as he focused his attention on Lost Universe. "We sure watch a lot of Anime up here."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome was not having a good day. He hadn't had one for quite some time. Currently he was standing in the middle of a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere. It was all he'd been able to find so far, for almost four months straight. Having most of a village hunting you down was not exactly something most people could handle. As a group it was worse. "What the hell did we ever do to them?"   
  
"We gotta get out of here!" snapped Gai angrily. There was an arrow sticking through the shoulder of the boy's shirt, it had come close, but he had managed to avoid it. They wouldn't raid villages to get to him, but he had to figure out a way out of there before their snipers could take positions. They were deadly accurate with their bows. Sesshoumaru was invaluable to them for his extra senses.  
  
"They are trying to take positions on the rooftops of the north side of town. We should head south, I think we'll find the least resistance there."  
  
"What about that old one?" asked Faye.  
  
"She is still far away, awaiting to hear how they fare against us. If we remain unharmed her fear will keep her away. She is strong, but cowardly when it comes to my kind. If she discovers we are powerless, she will come for us. Not even your skill will be enough boy. Not yet anyway."  
  
Amelia was a little frustrated with her new world as well. "If only we had my magic. This wouldn't be much of a problem."  
  
"I really wish you'd quit saying that," growled Faye.  
  
"She is correct. We must discover what is blocking my power. I know it can be done, I can still feel all of my strength. I do not know how to unlock it. It is as if I was a child again." He seemed disgusted with the very idea.  
  
"Well we can't! We don't have time to waste worrying about it either!" snapped Ranma. "We gotta get out of here! You people are going to get me killed!"  
  
"The snipers are in position," commented Sesshoumaru as he calmly plucked an arrow out of the air. The villagers froze in shock for a moment and quickly vacated the scene. He calmly turned to stare down the dumbstruck woman as she gaped at him in shock. "We should leave now."  
  
They turned away and started running towards the edge of town away from the snipers. The boy calmly shifted sideways as another planted itself in his path as he rushed around a nearby corner. He continued to run towards the surrounding fields.   
  
"Damn it! I hate running!" growled Gai.   
  
"Sometimes you have too!" muttered Amelia nervously.   
  
"Turn here!" snapped Faye as she forced them to avoid rushing into a wall.   
  
"Where the hell are we going?" growled Ranma.  
  
Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke up. "Keep running. As fast as you can. We have to get out of here immediately. Don't stop for anything, not even the Amazons." He forced them to level a sword carrying woman from the side as they burst into a street and blindsided her. The group of women surrounding her froze in surprise for a moment as the target ran by them at high speed.  
  
"After him!" cried one of them as she pointed a spear in his direction.   
  
"Are you crazy? You're gonna get us killed!" cried Gai.  
  
"Better to die at their hands than in the hands of what is coming for us now. You will soon wish we had taken that sword from its resting-place. Now, we can only hope to run fast enough."  
  
"What?" gasped Ranma in horror.  
  
"Another monster!?" cried Amelia.  
  
"It has already sensed us," snorted Sesshoumaru.   
  
"Shit," grumbled Faye.   
  
A jet of red flame and magma shot up from the ground in the center of the village. The creature tore up through the ground and roared angrily as its flaming palms slammed into the earth surrounding the spire of flames. It was a beastly looking creature, almost ape like with horns. It appeared as if its entire body was nothing but flames around a charred looking body. It towered almost fifteen feet in height and snorted as it scraped the ground with its ape like clawed hands in the dirt and shook its horns.  
  
"What the fuck!?" screamed Ranma in shock as he glanced back over his shoulder at it.   
  
The thing roared as the armed women scouring the village fled away from it in terror. It raked its claws across a trio of them particularly close to it and the pieces of their bodies that fell away became engulfed in fire.  
  
"I told you we should have taken that sword," commented Sesshoumaru calmly as he continued to run out of the village. No one was trying to stop him anymore as the rampaging demon tore through homes and anything else in front of it as it made a bee line for them while snapping its jaws impatiently.  
  
Ranma and nearly everyone else was terrified beyond speech as the heat from the beast began to make their back feel rather cooked as they rushed across open field.   
  
The village behind them was decimated in flames and smoke rose high into the air behind the thing.  
  
"This really sucks!" cried Faye out loud.  
  
"No kidding!" snapped everyone but Sesshoumaru.  
  
"We have to do something! It's gaining on us!"  
  
"What?" snorted Sesshoumaru coldly. "There is no cover to hide in. You are correct though. He will overtake us shortly."  
  
"I don't want to die like this! Do something! It's all your fault anyway!" cried Ranma.  
  
"I do not wish to die as a coward," agreed Sesshoumaru as he made them fall flat on their faces from the sudden stop he performed.  
  
"What the hell are you doing!?" cried Amelia and Faye.  
  
Gai had given up hope and simply waited for the end to come.  
  
They had now rolled over on their back and glared up at the demon hatefully. "Take me if you can then!" The monster raised its claw as it loomed over them. The puny thing rolled just out of the way, and ignored the small flames that ran up his shirt sleeve as he stood and turned to face it.  
  
"What are we gonna do now?" asked Ranma impatiently. He was in full alert mode and fear was a distant memory as he concentrated everything he had on his problem and possible solutions to it.  
  
"What can we do? Without my powers he is too powerful for us to stand against."  
  
The creature was simply looking at them now with its palm planted firmly in the ground still. "I am Gregorius. Who are you demon? I wish to know the name of my victim today."  
  
"You will not learn my name so easily fool," snorted the boy in front of it calmly.  
  
"I see. You should be much stronger. Your power is sealed away by something. I never imagined I'd be so lucky."  
  
"I know," replied Sesshoumaru calmly. He appeared to be standing and holding a simple conversation with the beast. The others were simply happy that the idiot pompous jerk was keeping the thing occupied.   
  
"Do you not fear death? Or have you simply realized the futility of your situation."  
  
"I fear nothing. I accept that which I cannot change. Without my power I cannot fight you, and you could chase me to the ends of the planet. Soon this body would tire, and I would be destroyed."  
  
"I thank you for your consideration," replied the thing coldly.  
  
"I was concerned only with myself. I need not suffer that much running from you." He paused for a moment. "I come from a different world than this one. Answer me this one question."  
  
"What?" asked the creature coldly. "Why do you allow those humans to survive above you? How is it they are allowed near you at all? My kind does not allow such filth so close to us. Why do you not make them suffer for daring to defile your home? I see very little in the way of suffering beyond their poverty."  
  
The thing growled at him for a moment. "You really don't know do you?"  
  
"I would not have asked if I had." The boy seemed as steely calm as before.  
  
"My, you are a brave one. I do not harm their bodies to make them suffer. No my friend, I tempt them. I make them my own, strip them of their very wills. I send them to a horror beyond agony and reap the rewards of their power."  
  
"It is sad that I am killed by a mere leech."   
  
"Now, it is your turn to suffer," snarled the beast coldly.  
  
"Why did you insult him!?" snapped Faye. "I almost thought of a way out of this!"  
  
"Yeah, right," muttered Gai hopelessly.  
  
The demon roared as it dove for them with its fangs bared and claws forward.   
  
"NO!" cried Ranma as he jumped into the air.  
  
Sesshoumaru sighed. They were over the thing's back looking down at it. "It's a shame really. It would be so simple, all I'd have to do was this." He made a swipe with their hand, but an unexpected force was behind it.  
  
"I'll try anything now!" cried Ranma as he joined the motion.  
  
A wide blue arc of energy shot from the open air and slammed into the monster's back side. It roared in anger as it was flattened into the ground by the force of the blow.  
  
"What?" it snarled angrily. The boy landed behind it and slowly turned with a widening grin forming on his face.  
  
"Can we do that again?" cried Gai hopefully.  
  
"I see. So you are the key, for now," commented Sesshoumaru with a sort of thoughtful sounding tone.  
  
"It worked?" muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Yes. It did. I must teach you how to perform some of my skills. We should still acquire a weapon of some sort. Enchanted or not."  
  
"What just happened?" cried Amelia dumbly.  
  
"I think I get it. You two can both still use your powers. Ranma just has to help you do it for some reason."  
  
"Makes sense to me!" said the boy happily. Finally he could control something again.  
  
"It will not last," replied the demon coldly. "It is simply a matter of time before I discover how to unseal them completely."  
  
"What about me and Faye?" asked Gai. "We don't have powers. I don't think so anyway."  
  
"I'm not sure about you, but I'm here because I'm smart," said Faye cheerfully.  
  
"I beg to differ," replied Sesshoumaru calmly. "Only a fool would tease a demon of my power so carelessly. Someday I'll find a way out of here, and then I'll make you all suffer for what you've forced me to endure."  
  
"Um? The monster?" asked Amelia.  
  
"Oh yes. Him," commented Sesshoumaru calmly.   
  
The beast was sitting and watching them closely. The pair was simply staring each other down. "Just how strong is he? Am I the one being led into a trap here? Perhaps I should leave." It was only one strike, but it was a powerful blow. The creature was carefully weighing its options, and it was running out of time if it needed to run.  
  
"Shall we end this game then?" asked Sesshoumaru calmly. "Gregorius?"  
  
"Very well then," snorted the beast as he stepped back.  
  
"You think I'll let you escape?" asked the boy calmly.   
  
"I do not intend to run," it snarled. It was an obvious lie.  
  
"Do as I do again," said the dog demon calmly.  
  
Ranma already had his attention focused on exactly that.  
  
"This is simple, but it should be enough," said Sesshoumaru coolly. The demon charged them suddenly and roared. The boy merely thrust his hand forward. Some invisible energy carved a path through the grass and sent a strong gust of wind in either direction on both sides as it passed. The demon lurched back as the flames covering its body went out suddenly. The charred flesh was pulled back and began to flake away as it suddenly shot backwards and carved a deep gouge in the earth as it ripped through three fields in its wake.  
  
Sesshoumaru calmly walked over to the thing's smoking body as it lay there breathing heavily.  
  
"Is it dead yet?" asked Gai nervously.  
  
"I don't think so," muttered Amelia as they grew nearer.   
  
"It lives, and it must be destroyed. If it survives it will tell others of us before they destroy it. I doubt if this battle went unnoticed, and others will soon arrive to begin searching us out. By killing it we may buy ourselves a few weeks time to prepare for them."  
  
Ranma came dangerously close to passing out at that announcement.  
  
"Stay firm boy. This is not over yet," snorted the demon. "I'd prefer to have you awake for this." They stood directly over the whimpering demon. It said nothing, but was in far too much pain to attack again. "A strong creature indeed," chuckled Sesshoumaru. He bent down next to the arm and touched it. Before anyone could react he slashed their wrist with one of the monster's claws.   
  
The others quickly made him jump back. "What the hell are you doing?" cried Faye angrily.  
  
"Gaaaaaahhhhhh! We're bleeding!" screamed Gai girlishly.  
  
"No," muttered Ranma in horror.  
  
"If we do not finish, we will die," said Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"What about her? You said you can do magic?" cried Ranma.  
  
"I'm not sure if it will work. This thing is a high level monster. I'm amazed we beat it so easily. My magic wouldn't be strong enough to heal damage from something like that well."  
  
"She is correct. If you don't mind, we are starting to feel a bit lightheaded. We will survive, if you let me do this now."  
  
The others all reluctantly relaxed their hold.   
  
The boy smirked as stood next to the thing's arm again. "I'll need you for this boy."  
  
He reared his arm back in a spear handed strike and plunged his arm deep into the creature's arm. After that, he simply relaxed and held it there. "Now we wait."  
  
"How long?" muttered Faye nervously. "Those women aren't far behind us."  
  
"After this thing appeared before them?" snorted Sesshoumaru. "Don't be so foolish. They will not return for several days at least. Then we can destroy them at our leisure."  
  
"I ain't destroying nobody!" cried Ranma.  
  
"You don't have much of a choice. They're trying to kill us," pointed out Gai. "I just wish we could find some guns or something. Maybe a rocket launcher, few grenades, possibly a tank or something... God, it would be great to find a Gekkiganger..."  
  
"I wish I could just get my hands on my old ship," grumbled Faye. "A gun would be nice too though."   
  
"Look, can we go now? This is disgusting," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"If you pull your arm out of there now boy, you'll die," commented Sesshoumaru calmly. "Remain still, and we will survive. Our arm will be healed in a few moments."  
  
"What are we doing anyway?" grumbled Faye irritably. "There are easier and less painful ways to do a blood transfusion you know.  
  
"I am aware of that. I'd prefer to use the jugular. I knew you would stop me once I cut ourselves if only for a moment though. This method is slightly provided more time for you to collect your wits. It is slower however, and we'll need to stay for a few moments."  
  
"Say. What the heck are we doin anyway?" asked Ranma.  
  
"It's his body. He should know after all," pointed out Gai.  
  
"As you say," snorted the demon. "I'm trading our blood for his. It will make us stronger, and you'll be able to access my abilities easier."  
  
"What about my powers?" asked Amelia nervously.  
  
"What about them? What possible use would we have for such weak magic?" snorted the demon.  
  
The boy's face flushed with anger at this for a moment. Still, Amelia backed off and didn't respond.  
  
"You are positively evil!" cried Faye.   
  
"Yes. I am aware of that," replied the demon as he pulled their unharmed hand out of the creature's now drained carcass. He flexed their fingers and frowned at them for a moment. "Even my weakling of a half brother could defeat Yokai with a body similar to this one. It will still not be as easily done as I could manage with my own body."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Quit complaining about your stupid body. We all had bodies once too you know!" snapped Gai irritably.  
  
"In time, you will grow to appreciate the upgrade."  
  
"You're saying what we did to this thing wasn't easy?"  
  
"He was weakened by another battle already. We would not have survived otherwise. If we had not discovered a way to unlock some of my power, we would still have been destroyed. The humans had apparently settled over him while he was recovering and thrived. His power was far too weak for him to remove them. Soul Taker or not, he would not allow them to remain so close to him otherwise."  
  
"Great. So demons don't like to let humans hang around," said Gai. "Learn something new every day."  
  
"You piteous fool. You don't understand. We stumbled across this creature's lair. A demon would never allow a human village so close to his home. His purpose on this world may indeed be the collecting of human souls, but I imagine he would rise on occasion to destroy a particularly bothersome group. Humans are not as warlike as you might imagine. You are however easily manipulated."  
  
"Really? Why don't we have that sword then?"  
  
"This was a backup plan," replied the demon coldly. "I simply misread you at first. I had planned on doing this later on anyway."  
  
"Ouch," grumbled Faye. She wasn't looking forward to the future. She needed to figure this guy out and fast. He needed to be controlled badly. "Everyone listen up. It's obvious that it's going to take all of us to keep this guy under control. He's going to get us all killed or worse if we keep letting him do this to us."   
  
The demon ignored this as he continued to walk away from the scene calmly.   
  
"Um? Aren't you going to say something?" asked Amelia nervously.  
  
"No. I wasn't planning on it," was the simple reply.   
  
"I'm part demon aren't I?" asked Ranma suddenly.  
  
"What? Don't be silly!" cried Faye.  
  
"He is correct," replied Sesshoumaru. "We now possess some of a demons power. We will eventually become a full demon, but that will take careful planning if we are to survive long enough."  
  
"I don't wanna be a demon!" cried Ranma in horror.  
  
"Me either!" cried Amelia.  
  
"We'll just get the stuff sucked out somewhere. I'm sure we can find some way for another transfusion," said Faye nervously.  
  
"It would not matter. You cannot remove what we have now taken. It is, forever."  
  
"We don't have to be a demon you know," said Amelia suddenly. "He just wants you to think it will happen anyway. So you don't try and stop him from doing it."  
  
"What?" muttered Ranma hopefully.  
  
"You'll keep silent if you know what's good for you," said Sesshoumaru coolly.  
  
"I won't let you turn me into a demon!" she snapped angrily. "You go and find your own body and do what you want with it! Leave me out of it!"  
  
"What do we have to do?" cried Ranma hopefully.  
  
"Well, we'll always be part demon," she admitted lamely. "Nothing can be done about that part. It's just... we're still part human too. As long as we don't grow too evil and powerful we'll be fine."  
  
"What do we do then?" asked Gai.   
  
"I think he means what don't we do," commented Faye.  
  
"Simple. We keep Fluffy on a leash."  
  
"WHAT?!!"  
  
"I can handle that," commented Ranma. "You're a real dick."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Genma Saotome was looking at the long hallways of the black palace with a sort of shocked awe. "What is this place?" It was positively evil looking. Long hallways of ebony and red. Dragonheads curled up from the sides of pillars with ruby eyes. Blood red carpets and torch lit walls gave the place a dark forbidding tone.   
  
"It is your home master," replied one of the hooded men. "It is yours and all of the treasures within belong to you and you alone. It is our offering to you. We even have several virgins lined up to be sacrificed in your honor later this evening."  
  
"Sacrificed?" muttered the man dumbly. "Wait. All of this is mine?"  
  
"Yes," replied the man simply as he waved his arm.  
  
"The master seems most impressed," commented one of the men with a dark smile on his face.   
  
"Indeed," commented one of the men. "Definitely not what I was expecting him to be at all," whispered the man next to him. "He has hardly spoken a command since his arrival."  
  
"Have you had the young virgin boys delivered to his room yet? I don't want to see him get angry if they aren't there when he decides to retire."  
  
"He seems pensive, perhaps he is unaware that he is the chosen one? This could be caution on his part as well. To make sure we are loyal to him and his prophecy."  
  
"A test?" asked the man in whispered tone as Genma continued on his tour a little ahead of them.  
  
"I do not know," replied the man calmly.   
  
The burly man in the dirty dogi simply walked quietly along as the men gave him a tour of what he considered to be the tenth level of hell itself. He'd seen horrors that would haunt his dreams for years. He simply couldn't figure out a way out of his current situation. It hadn't been all bad at first, now it was all he could do to keep his composure. They'd kill him for sure if he started looking frightened by the things he was seeing. He needed to escape badly, but his brain was too busy fending off the trip.  
  
It boggled the mind really. A wealth Genma Saotome wanted no part of. He stomped his feet firmly down and glared at them all. "What the hell is all this anyway?"  
  
"We are in preparation for you to use your dark magic to vanquish the world and make..."  
  
"You think this is how you conquer the world?" said the man as his jaw dropped. "This stuff makes people hate you!"  
  
"They should hate us, we're evil," replied the large lead robed man. He pulled his hood back revealing his clean-shaven head and frowned down at the man. "I live for the suffering of others."  
  
"So start a business." Genma had no idea why he had said that. "You think raining down hell fire and summoning demons make people suffer? Imagine the ways we can abuse employees! What about shafting millions out of all their money!? Turn them into dirty drug abusing hippies! Create recession! Turn order into misery!"  
  
"That takes so long though," commented one of the men. The others all nodded in agreement.   
  
"We'll be old before we can enjoy the fruits of our evil," said the leader calmly.   
  
"Oh," replied Genma dumbly. "Puppet governments?"  
  
"We tend to scare voters away. No way to get real power that way."  
  
Genma was perplexed. These were the stupidest evil people he'd ever met. "Don't you have any long term plans at all?"  
  
"New batch of virgins from the neighboring village next week," said one of the men as he raised his hand.  
  
"Well. You need something a bit more long term than that I'm afraid. Genma promptly plopped himself on the ground. Take me for example. I'm planning on taking my son to an old friend of mine's home and freeload off of him for the rest of my life. You see, he's engaged to Soun's daughters. Once I have him married off, I'll sit and live fat and happy while he runs the dojo. I'll spend my golden years playing shogi on the porch with my old friend. Ah, such a beautiful vision. I had it two weeks before the boy was born." He nodded at himself proudly. "Still haven't figured out how to keep the wife out of the way though."  
  
"We can kill her for you if it would please you master!" cried one of the robed men.  
  
"Remember that room about five doors back?" asked Genma.  
  
"At once master," replied the others as the man was carted off.  
  
Genma wasn't totally cruel though. "Only about an hour though. Try not to leave too many marks."  
  
"Thank you master!" cried the man as the group shoved him through the door.  
  
The tall bald man appeared at his side once again a moment later as he sat on the floor of the hallway. "I begin to see your wisdom master. Perhaps we can look a bit farther into the future, and follow your example."  
  
"Yes. Do that," said the man with a small sigh. "How do I leave? I've still got to find the boy."  
  
"We shall leave at once!" cried the man. He called down to the group that was overseeing the torture. "Go! Call the others! We must find the master's spawn!"   
  
Genma glanced at the man briefly. Maybe it wasn't all that bad. Having loyal minions probably had perks. It seemed they were so stupid that they'd follow him no matter what he did.  
  
"If you're coming along, you're paying your own way," snorted Genma. "I won't have a bunch of freeloaders messing up my lifelong dream."  
  
"We shall ensure that all your dreams become reality!" said the tall man firmly.  
  
"How can you guys afford this anyway?" asked Genma.  
  
"We invest in all sorts of nasty things. Child porn, sweatshops, hard drugs, guns, that sort of thing." He smiled at the man broadly. "Business is booming."  
  
The perplexed looking martial artist simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk. They had a nice little racket going here for themselves, except for the torture and murder stuff.   
  
"What about the virgins?" asked one of the men in the back. Genma was kind of dumbstruck. There were about thirty men following him now. Each one was dressed in long black robes and had no hair. Most of them had a slim build about them, but there were a few with a little weight. All of them were tall.  
  
"What?" he asked dumbly.  
  
"The virgins for the sacrifice tonight! Should we do it now, or tie them up for later?"  
  
"No! No more virgins! You'll go out and rent whores like normal people!"  
  
The men collectively hung their heads in instant defeat.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"It was an ambush I tell you," snorted Douche angrily. "That vile thing tricked us!"  
  
"I have heard reports of that battle as well. Three have fallen, seven more injured," said Cologne. "It was a trap, but not for us, and it failed. I fear our problem may have worsened."  
  
"We'll show that arrogant brat," snapped Douche angrily.  
  
"Really. It's probably older than we are," replied Cologne with a small snort.  
  
The other women sitting around the room all nodded. "I'm inclined to agree with Douche," said one of the older ones calmly. It was easy to see she was well respected as everyone looked quite surprised to hear it. She puffed on a long pipe and narrowed her eyes at Cologne. "You may be correct Cologne. I think it is more likely he was trying to kill two birds with one stone. Also, besides his extraordinary reflexes, and of course Jusenkyo's taint, we have yet to see any real power from him. I suspect he is using finely tuned senses beyond that of human capabilities almost exclusively for some reason. We have seen a taste of his power, but the creature has yet to strike one of us down. Today it showed us that it could have done so quite easily. I would like to find out why that is."  
  
Cologne merely nodded. "As you say. Why, is a very important question in this case. I think I should lead the next attack. I think perhaps we should test the waters a bit more before we give up on him. He seems to be moving out of the danger zone."  
  
"Perhaps we should allow him to flee then?" asked one of the women in the back. "We have no real crimes committed against us with this one. He may be a dark one, but his business may lie elsewhere."  
  
Cologne shook her head slowly. "I cannot allow that. There is still one very important place he has not yet passed by. Perhaps the most dangerous of all."  
  
"Jusendo!" cried Douche.  
  
Cologne hung her head. "You've been smoking again haven't you? He's heading to the east, away from those mountains. It's probably where he came from. You already know that."  
  
"Where then?" she snapped irritably.  
  
"Here." She pointed her finger at the map and everyone gasped.  
  
"Hong Kong?" asked one of the women dumbly.  
  
Cologne glanced over her shoulder. Douche had shifted the map while she wasn't looking. The old woman was horrible at hiding things and it was written all over her face as she glanced around the room busily.  
  
"No, the dark mountain. We know only that it is an evil place. We do not know the legend that surrounds it. Perhaps, we might learn it in time to stop him? I fear that is his objective, he's heading right for it." She drew a line with her finger indicating his path.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Where the hell are we anyway?" grumbled Gai as he surveyed his surroundings. Ranma was currently squatting on a tree branch dozens of feet above the ground in a large forest. He was scanning the area near the top of a large hill.   
  
"In China, still," replied Faye lamely.   
  
"Pipe down, I think I see somethin," said Ranma.   
  
"No one can hear us but you, Ranma," said Faye flatly.   
  
"No, but you are a distraction. I see what he is looking at, be silent for a moment," said Sesshoumaru calmly. "You want to go there don't you?"  
  
"What?" muttered Ranma as he tore his eyes away from the black mountain looming in the distance. They were on the edge of another range of mountains, and they could see the peak in the distance, far in the distance. "Why the heck would I want to go to that place? Looks like a rough trip."  
  
"It probably would be, very difficult terrain," said the dog demon calmly. He seemed to be getting bored with the conversation.  
  
"Guess we're goin then," said the boy as he hopped down from his perch.  
  
"What?!" cried Amelia and Faye.   
  
"Why are we going there again?" asked Gai.  
  
"I'm in training buddy. If I see a difficult path like that one, I just gotta take it," replied the boy with a small shrug as he hefted his pack over his shoulder.   
  
"Man. I hate exercise," grumbled Gai.  
  
"You seem awfully agreeable about this," snorted Faye.  
  
"We are not strong enough to face what is coming. The blood we have taken makes us stronger, but we are easier to detect as well, by humans and demons alike. We'll need to be on guard, and train hard to become stronger. If we do not, we will die. I have not lived like this in centuries, but I survived it before. I do not plan on failing this time either. I highly suggest you consider our position the next time I tell you to do something. Without me, not even one of you would survive more than a few months. In my weakened state, I am a prime target for elimination. If we become strong enough, they will leave us alone. That's how my half-wit of a brother survived so long. He was forced by his weakness to strengthen his body and became dull witted."  
  
"That sounds familiar," commented Faye lazily. "I know quite a few people like that. I wonder how everyone is doing back home?"  
  
"I don't have to worry about that," replied Sesshoumaru.  
  
"What about that little girl?" asked Amelia softly.   
  
"I am still with her," he replied calmly. "She amuses me. Occasionally, I'll take on a human child as a pet. When I'm through with her, I'll dispose of her. I have no room for kindness in my heart."  
  
"Why have a pet then?" asked Gai.   
  
"Having a pretty young servant is an excellent way to get humans to bow to your demands easily. Fear is not the only method of persuasion. The best way to be rid of them is to give them away to someone. They usually don't survive long after I abandon them. Besides, I have no pity for a human fool who wishes to deal with the likes of me. They are usually executed once they murder the man who took them away from me. Occasionally they do manage to sleep their way out of it, but they are soon destroyed one way or another."  
  
"That's disgusting!" cried Faye.  
  
"Monster!" cried Amelia. She paused. "Oh. Right."  
  
"How could you do that!" lamented the woman angrily.  
  
"I think our young friend has acquired an understanding of this already. Why is it taking you so long?" replied the demon calmly.  
  
"As much fun as hearing this is," said Ranma irritably. "Could you please pipe down? Time will go by faster if I meditate on the way there."  
  
"That's great for you, but what about us?" snapped Faye.  
  
"I think it's an excellent idea actually. I should be concentrating on keeping an eye out for surprises," replied Sesshoumaru calmly.   
  
"I was learning how to cast Ra-tilt for my next exam. If I think about it long enough, I should be able to cast it," said Amelia. "That could take a while though," she added with a slightly nervous laugh.  
  
"Obviously," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
"I think I've sat next to you every time I've ever flown commercial," commented Gai.  
  
"Ouch," said Faye. "I give up. I guess I'll just be bored for a while." She didn't sound like she cared much for the idea.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Master. I am sorry to report that your son is not working in one of our many sweatshops. He also hasn't been forced into illegal experiments. Most regrettable indeed."  
  
"I know that. I probably would have remembered by now if I had done something like that. It's not like me to forget for more than a few weeks." Genma pondered where his son had gone for a very long time. He was coming up completely blank, and his son wasn't around to solve the problem. Which was the whole problem.  
  
The men around Genma began to pick up rocks and throw them back to the ground in frustration. They jumped up and down excitedly as they all tried their best to garner a collective thought.  
  
The theme to two thousand and one began to play spontaneously.  
  
It stopped suddenly as one of the smaller robed men spoke. "Have we checked the jails yet?"  
  
Genma frowned at him for a moment. Ranma wasn't slow enough to get caught. "I have it! He'll go back to Japan!" Genma jumped up and pointed his finger in the air as tears streaked down his cheeks. "Come my loyal disciples!"  
  
"Please, call us minions master," said one of the men.  
  
"Right. Come my loyal minions!"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Three days later...  
  
Ranma Saotome was covered in dirt and grime. With a somewhat lazy stroll he walked through the center of a small village. People gave him a wide berth as he simply passed through silently. Not so much because he was a stranger, or that his form was particularly scary. No, it was the fact that he was on fire.   
  
"This is starting to suck," said Ranma irritably.   
  
"At least they have enough sense to stay out of our way now," said Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"If we keep wandering through villages like this we'll get attacked," said Amelia.  
  
"So?" replied Sesshoumaru.  
  
"She's right," agreed Faye.   
  
"I just hope there's a way to turn it off," commented Ranma. "Any luck with that by the way?"  
  
"It will probably take us a few months to fully understand this new blood. Incidents like this will probably be well under control within a week."  
  
A lone figure stood in front of them firmly. She was a young Chinese girl with long straight black hair. A delicate looking tai chi sword was gripped in her hand as she simply waited for them to stop in front of her.  
  
The flaming boy merely shifted his step and continued walking around the girl. She looked quite clean compared to her surroundings and was wearing an expensive looking red silk jumpsuit. A large white bandanna was tied around her forehead and she turned her head to watch them walk by her.   
  
"Why have you come here?"   
  
"To challenge that mountain," he replied calmly as he continued walking.  
  
"I think not, demon," she hissed coolly. She spun around and thrust the sword towards them as she prepared herself for a fight.  
  
"This one is dangerous, she must be destroyed," warned the demon dog.  
  
"What?" cried Faye and Amelia.  
  
"Devil hunter," said Ranma as he watched the girl for a moment.  
  
"Yes boy. I imagine you've heard legends of such people. Magical ability, and martial arts can be a dangerous combination in a human. As we grow in power, they too will learn it is best not to meddle with us. Like other demons, they must be trained not to bother us. Wiping out a family or two usually does it."   
  
"I'm sure we can explain things to her if..." started Faye.  
  
Gai wasn't touching this one with a pole if he could help it. He was along for the ride and hoped they didn't get hit too much. "Can we just get this over with?"  
  
"I ain't killin nobody anyway!"  
  
"That is unwise in this case. She will not be so merciful with us. We are a demon as far as she is concerned, that is reason enough to see us destroyed at any cost in her mind. We will not be able to persuade her otherwise. If she is a real demon hunter, she has been trained not to trust our kind. Wisely so, I might add."  
  
"You sure are talkative all of a sudden," said Faye. "We need to move no matter what, she's still staring us down. I think she's gonna get impatient real soon though."  
  
"You're the one who passed through Jokezuko aren't you?" asked the girl as she lowered her blade again and relaxed her stance a bit.  
  
"A trap!" snarled the dog demon.  
  
The flaming boy jumped back as twin arrows planted themselves into the ground on either side of him. The girl in front of him growled and twirled her sword around her hand. "Damn!"  
  
"Come boy. I'll be needing you again," said the demon coolly.  
  
"I'll take care of this," replied Ranma calmly. Amazons began bouncing down from the rooftops all around him. He didn't seem worried in the slightest. He'd had the powers for three days now. The trip he'd taken could have been done in about a day had he not taken so much time adjusting himself to his newfound strength and speed. He'd also accidentally picked up a trick or two. "There's some stuff I wanna try out. These chicks are starting to piss me off anyway." He cracked his knuckles and crouched low as seven amazon women came charging out of the alleyways.  
  
The sword-carrying girl rushed forward as well. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she thrust her sword forward at him. He bent over backwards to dodge and she curved the blade's path down. The boy was too fast for that though and he snaked his torso to the side around the blade and locked up her arm across his knee forcing the point into the ground. Her arm appeared unharmed by the flames surrounding him and the girl cried out in pain as she was lifted into the air by her arm as the boy jumped up to avoid two arrow strikes. He spun around in the air and tossed her into three of the charging amazons. He landed in a crouched stance and the other four warriors came to a complete halt. They circled around him, all of them armed with long handled spears.   
  
He simply stood and watched them surround him. The girl he had thrown was jerking violently as the flames started to build around her body. She was unharmed by the fire physically, but it was very obvious whatever was happening to her was very painful. Even her clothes remained unscathed inside the inferno. Slowly, they started to die down as the amazon women watched the events carefully.  
  
She groaned painfully and sat upright. "Hellfire! Don't let him touch you!" She was nursing a dislocated shoulder and picked her sword up from the dust. She hadn't dropped it until she landed. She gritted her teeth firmly and slipped it back into place as she staggered to her feet. Her face scrunched up painfully and a bit of drool slipped out from behind her teeth as she did it. "He's mine," she said as she relaxed her body and took up another stance. The sword was in her other hand now, with her injured shoulder behind her.  
  
The burning boy simply watched her calmly and noticed that the women surrounding him backed off slightly.   
  
"She's challenging us directly," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Fool. She doesn't stand a chance without their numbers to help her," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
The girl rushed forward and screamed as she charged him. She raised her sword over her head to slash down just as he tipped back and shot his arm at her chest.  
  
"Strike now!" cried Sesshoumaru.  
  
"No!" gasped the boy as his eyes went wide. He had already started punching.   
  
The girl's eyes went wide and she spit blood into his face as his arm went through her abdomen. She jerked forward and grabbed his shoulders as her sword fell into the dust.  
  
"Holy shit! Our arm went through her!" cried Gai.  
  
"Yes," snarled Sesshoumaru coldly.  
  
"She ain't dead!" cried Ranma as he struggled with her arms as he removed his arm along with parts of her entrails.  
  
"She will be shortly. I'm surprised she hasn't bled to death yet. Perhaps the flames are keeping her blood in? She'll die once they extinguish."  
  
"Ranma! Help me!" cried Amelia.   
  
"Huh?" he said dumbly.  
  
"Shut up and do it. I've got a hunch," she said firmly.  
  
The amazon women were still standing around in shock as the boy thrust both his hands down while kneeling next to her body. A soft blue glow formed in his palms as he focused on what he was doing.  
  
One of the amazon women pulled her bow back as she aimed for the creature's head. She gasped as a withered looking hand appeared in front of her face. She turned her head and saw the elder Cologne holding her back.  
  
"Why do you stop me?" she asked calmly as she lowered the weapon. The woman appeared quite interested in what was happening.  
  
"Wait. If only for a moment," said the elder calmly. "I am feeling something that should not be." She shook her head at the absurdity of it all. "Impossible."  
  
The boy slowly stood up and started walking away from the burning form of the girl behind him. She was obviously in incredible pain, but alive none the less, and the wound was nothing but a light scar on her belly and back.  
  
"Unless you'd like to end up like her, I suggest you move. She'll survive, but it was a very painful experience I assure you," he said to the women in front of him calmly.  
  
They all stepped back away from him fearfully.  
  
However there was now a new obstacle in their path. A tiny withered old crone, balanced precariously on the end of a long staff.   
  
"Don't tell me, we should destroy her right?" muttered Faye.  
  
"That should be obvious," snorted the demon calmly.  
  
"What the heck does she want?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"Hey. Wadda ya want?" said the boy as he simply looked at the old woman in front of him.  
  
"The question is, what do you want here?"  
  
"To pass," he replied in his cool tone again. "If you don't move, I will go through you."  
  
"Tell me boy. What do you want with this mountain? You're no demon, at least not completely."  
  
The boy's grin became cocky suddenly. "Ta climb it. I gotta take the hardest road."  
  
The old woman arched her eyebrows at this. "I see. Tell me boy, what if I offered you another path?"  
  
"What?" said the boy as he frowned at her a little.  
  
"I'm offering to train you boy. I can assure you that you'll be much stronger than you will if you take this road. Anything to keep you away from that cursed place. If what you tell me is true, I assure you that you do not want what lies in wait for you."  
  
"I knew it. Dog boy was trying to trick us into going somewhere again!" snapped Faye angrily.  
  
"Actually, I was being quite honest. This is a very difficult and dangerous path. Just taking it would probably make us stronger. Even I can't lie all the time."  
  
"I'll bet there's something you're not telling us about," commented Gai lazily. "I say we go with the old woman. Some of those tricks are pretty neat."  
  
"We cannot trust her. It is doubtful she trusts us at all. Human or not, we do have a demons power," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
"I hate to say it, but he is right," agreed Faye.  
  
"Maybe we should trust her?" commented Amelia.  
  
Cologne coughed into her hand. "Oh yes. There is the other matter of the one hundred and twenty seven wives you've managed to collect."  
  
"What?" said the boy as he glared at her.   
  
"As you are human, I am certain of that much at least now, you are subject to our laws," replied the old woman calmly. "You are quite strong, and though you seemed to have acquired some very interesting demonic traits. Would you mind at least hinting at how you have done this?" She seemed to be quite cheerful.  
  
The boy was still guarded, and kept his eyes on everyone at once. The old woman's guards had yet to move once they positioned themselves between him and her on either side of him. None of them dared to try and sneak behind him at the moment.   
  
"My dear boy. You have a demon sealed away inside of you, don't you?" she asked after several moments of silence.  
  
"Yeah. How did ya know?" he asked her dumbly. "He got into my head somehow."  
  
The old woman simply stared at the boy for a long moment. "Well boy?"  
  
"Think I'm better off on my own, thanks," he said simply. "You're not strong enough to make me marry someone anyway." He simply continued his forward path and ignored her.  
  
"Ranma! What the hell are you doing?" cried Faye angrily. "We can't go in there!"  
  
"Why are we still going to the mountain!?" cried Amelia in confusion.  
  
"Because he's right. We need a weapon," replied the boy honestly. "That last demon thing was too close a call. I'm not so sure I want to let him out too much after what just happened."  
  
Gai spoke up quietly. "Ranma is right. The blowhard was saying that his little brother..."  
  
"Half brother," replied the demon in an even tone.  
  
"Whatever. Anyway, his half brother got along fine right? He just got strong enough to fight back."  
  
"His enchanted blade had something to do with it as well," replied the demon coolly. "Even if you do manage to stop me, how are you going to defend yourselves against demons without me? The boy is right. You weaklings need a weapon."  
  
"We could have gone with Cologne. She might not have killed us if we listened to her," said Amelia. "She could probably teach us some neat things too. Like that super fast punching thing, or the tornado thingy."  
  
"No. I still don't trust her," said Faye. "I think it was something in her voice when she was talking too us. I think she was trying to lead us into a trap. We should have gone another way, and not with her."  
  
"I don't know," muttered the girl with a small sigh. "I'm not so sure about this place. I'm getting a bad feeling. Trees were starting to become black and twisted, and a sort of haze floated in the air around them. "Maybe we should go back?"  
  
"I won't allow that," snorted the demon calmly.  
  
"Watch us," snarled Faye.  
  
"That's right!" agreed Amelia firmly.  
  
"Is this gonna hurt much? This trip has sucked so far," grumbled Gai.  
  
"We do not tire easily now," replied Sesshoumaru. "We should be able to climb the mountain to the peak by evening without putting out much effort."  
  
"We should be there by this afternoon then," replied Ranma calmly.  
  
Everyone went strangely silent as he said this.  
  
The demon didn't respond as they started up the path unhindered for the moment.  
  
"What should we do elder?" asked one of the women. The devil hunter glanced around at the women.  
  
"Nothing," she replied quietly. "We can do nothing to stop this. I dare not send such inexperienced warriors onto that cursed mountain. All of you are strong, but do not have enough knowledge to face what awaits him.  
  
"He'll die anyway then," said the same woman with a smirk forming on her face.  
  
"No. He will not," replied the devil hunter calmly as she started after him. "I'm going after him."  
  
"If you feel it is your duty," said Cologne as she nodded her head towards the girl. "I cannot place my people in such danger. I am sorry. We will move to the other side of the mountain, and await his return."  
  
"You won't catch him that way," replied the girl calmly.  
  
"If he escapes you, we will find his trail again. I'm afraid he'll never be rid of us now. It is obvious which path he has chosen, and he must be destroyed, for all of our sakes."  
  
The girl merely nodded and rushed after the demon boy.   
  
"Shu ho, be cautious. This one is more than he seems I think."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Why? Why do you continue forward?" growled Shu as she rushed through the mist and brush after the boy. "Why did Cologne give so much damn exposition anyway? I'm all rattled now." It wasn't a good thing to hear right after the boy put his hand through her body. Her wound still hurt, but it was little more than a bad bruise now. "Why? Why did he save me?"  
  
"I thought it might send the message more clearly. If I just kill you, you'll just pop back up in a few centuries or so. It becomes a rather annoying cycle."  
  
She gasped and whirled around.  
  
"Why are you following me? You should know by now that I can kill you easily."  
  
"Why? Tell me why you healed me!" she screamed at him angrily. "Who are you?"  
  
"Ranma Saotome. Sorry about him, he's kinda evil," the boy's face was rather flush as he looked towards the ground.  
  
Her jaw dropped quite suddenly. Her grip faltered on her weapon and she stared at him. It was true. She had seen it in his eyes when he nearly killed her. He hadn't been expecting it either. "What?"  
  
"I ain't crazy or nuthin. I got this guy in my head somehow. He's attracting all sorts of trouble too. A demon tried to kill me earlier. I have to use his power to fight them off now."  
  
"No one knows the legend surrounding this mountain. All we know is that it is an evil place. You should not continue forward. This place could be waiting for someone like you to come along."  
  
"I guess I shouldn't disappoint then. I need a weapon to fight them with, and my demon is telling me I'll find one up there. He's very interested in keeping us alive. He dies if I do."  
  
"Then I shall see that you have a quick death," she replied coldly as her blade was drawn once again.  
  
"Damn it. Cut that out!" snapped the boy as he dodged around her strikes. "If I hit you again he might kill you."  
  
"I know," she replied as she tore her shirt off and tossed it aside. Some of the fire surrounding his body had caught onto her clothing.   
  
"What the?" muttered the boy as he found himself facing the combined might of a healthy twenty year old pair of breasts. He froze for a moment and she slashed down at him with her sword at his neck.  
  
His grin turned cocky as he glanced up at her halfway through her strike. "I've seen better." Her blade hit nothing but the ground and a hand slapped across her rear as she fell forward face down in the dirt. "See you around." He started walking as she squeaked in pain as she realized some of his flame had gotten onto her rear. She quickly rolled over and smothered it in the dirt. She was very thankful that magic or not, fire was fire.  
  
He had already vanished into the mist. Not an easy thing to do when you glow like a moving campfire. "That little bastard!" she snarled angrily as she stood up and picked up her sword. "Get back here you little pervert!" She picked up her shirt again and put it back on as it had also gone out. After a moment of silent huffing she glared into the woods.   
  
"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to die!"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was looking at his hand with a kind of bewildered look on his face. "You jerks almost got us killed. You're lucky Amelia and I were here!"  
  
"I believe I assisted as well," commented Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"Whatever, you're up to something," snapped Faye.  
  
"Why did you do that Mr. Yammada? It was mean!" scolded the little girl.  
  
"I couldn't help myself," muttered the man pathetically, "and it's Gai."  
  
"Yeah. Why did we do that?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
Gai was astounded. "Y...you're kidding?!"  
  
The boy shook his head negative. He was honestly curious about the answer.  
  
"He is still a pup after all."  
  
"No! This is abnormal!" snapped Gai. "There could be something wrong! We need to find a doctor!"   
  
"It is rather odd," admitted Faye.  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Amelia. "Ranma? You don't know why Mr. Yammada slapped that woman on the rear?"  
  
The boy growled in annoyance as he felt his cheeks flush. "Why would I? She was already out of the way, and the strike didn't do anything."  
  
"That sounds like my little half brother," growled the demon irritably.  
  
"What?" snapped Ranma angrily. "What the hell is the damn problem?"  
  
"We gotta get you laid kid," replied Gai calmly.  
  
"What?" said the boy as he halted suddenly.   
  
"I could use a little release myself," commented Faye.  
  
"You shouldn't say things like that out loud!" gasped Amelia. "I don't know if I'm ready for that!"  
  
"What's the big deal? It'll be another girl, so it's not all that bad."  
  
The little girl passed out at that.   
  
"Hey. I think we lost her," said Gai.  
  
Ranma started walking quickly, but he could not escape this conversation. It was a horrible realization on his part.   
  
"What about our demon friend?" asked Gai.  
  
"I have no need of such things. Do as you will to satisfy your human desires. It does not matter to me."  
  
"It's settled then," said Gai cheerfully.   
  
"Where are we gonna find a woman?" grumbled Faye. "Listen buddy. I'm doing you a favor here, a big one. I expect some return on this investment, if you catch my drift?"  
  
"Oh man. You're kidding!" cried Gai in horror.  
  
Ranma had no idea what was going on. He noticed that the fire surrounding his body died down a bit after Amelia left them.  
  
"I'm gonna have to think about this," grumbled the man.  
  
"We might be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives. Besides, when was the last time you got laid anyway?"  
  
"Three years ago," grumbled the man sourly. "That's not the point."  
  
"Well. I suppose you're in great need of release then," replied the woman smoothly.  
  
Ranma was forced to pull his hand out of the front of his pants. "Hey! What the hell are you doin?!"  
  
"Wait a minute. There's no one out here. Let's go with this," said Gai.  
  
"Hell no!" cried Ranma out loud. "Don't touch that! It's mine!"  
  
"All right. How about a deal then? We can change bodies right? I mean, we can be a girl sometimes."  
  
Ranma paused for a moment. "What?"  
  
"If I leave that alone, you give me control of that other body. Girls get the girl side, boys get the boy side. How about it? It's only fair."  
  
The boy growled under his breath as he walked in silence for a long time.   
  
"Well?"  
  
"I'm thinkin about it," he replied coolly.  
  
"Ouch," said Gai.  
  
"I could get to really like a kid like you," she replied sweetly as his hand slid down the front of his pants again.  
  
"All right! All right! Fine! Just cut that out!" he screamed at the top of his lungs angrily.  
  
"You would have made a good pet," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
Faye growled at him, but didn't respond.  
  
"Good idea kid. Let them deal with that feminine stuff," said Gai.   
  
"You do realize I basically just gave them an excuse to sit back and do nothing while we're like this," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"Don't worry! We'll leave all the rough stuff to you boys!" said Faye cheerfully.   
  
"She'd better not get fat," growled Ranma irritably.  
  
"Don't worry. I've always had a good figure," replied Faye cheerfully.  
  
"That was obvious," commented the demon. "You wouldn't have tried to manipulate him that way if you weren't attractive. It's a common trait among attractive human females. A pity it gets them killed so often."  
  
By this point in the conversation they were bouncing across jagged and narrow edges up the side of the mountain. He grabbed the wall and started climbing.   
  
"Boy, you sure know how to kill the mood don't you," grumbled Faye irritably. "How long is she going to be out?"   
  
"What happened?" chimed Amelia as if given a cue. "Oh. Not a dream, darn."  
  
"Sorry kid," commented Gai. "What's that?"  
  
"Our destination," replied Sesshoumaru.  
  
Looming over them was what appeared to be a black temple. Green flames burned in the torches that surrounded the walls and a large heavy wooden door appeared to be the only entrance.   
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shu ho was perched on the rocks far below the boy. She looked up at him and frowned. "Damn. This isn't going to be an easy fight."  
  
She had heard him scream his submission to the demon in the woods. It was a pity that he was not strong enough to contain it. She had to release him from his suffering, even if he was a pompous little shit."  
  
"I'm not going to make it in time to stop him. I hope I can manage something. I don't wanna die!" She didn't seem very confident as she sniffled and started climbing up the rocks with tears in her eyes.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked around the room casually as he strolled in. "Where the heck is this place?" Large chunks of lumber and pieces of wood littered the ground at his feet.  
  
"It is the resting place of a powerful weapon. More Yokai magic to aid us, of a different sort than that sword though."  
  
"What kind of 'sort'?" growled Faye.  
  
They simply continued walking forward moving out of the shattered remains of the heavy wooden door.  
  
"Hey. Who's the babe?" asked Faye.  
  
Everyone's attention focused on the handsome man standing in the middle of the room. He was simply watching them with what appeared to be a black staff in his hand. He had short cut slicked back black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. "I've been waiting for you."  
  
"Damn!" growled Sesshoumaru.  
  
"I thought you said..." started Amelia.  
  
"I'm disappointed in you really. After all, it was an obvious trap. Finding two such weapons so easily is a bit too fortuitous. Yet, here you are, standing in front of me. Showing what a fool you truly are." The man casually walked towards the middle of the room in front of them and stopped to face him again once he'd reached it.  
  
"Boy. Listen carefully. I must fight this battle, but I will need your help. This is a situation where my full Yokai power must be brought to bare. The slightest mistake from you will destroy us."  
  
"Well. For once I trust him," commented Faye.  
  
"Oh no. This is going to be really bad isn't it?" cried Amelia.   
  
"I'm afraid so kid," commented Gai as he braced himself. "Try to be gentle would you?"  
  
"I do not indent to suffer a single blow from this fight. I could be mistaken though," commented the demon coolly. "Come boy. It is time to get this over with."  
  
"Still want to fight? Such a weak half blood like yourself destroy me? I think not," snarled the man angrily.  
  
"It's too bad. He was cute too," commented Faye.   
  
The creature before them jumped into the air and a pair of black wings sprouted from his back as two long horns ripped through the flesh of his forehead. His hands became clawed as well as his feet, but his torso remained human, with the tattered remains of his suit and tie still hanging from him.  
  
"I'm afraid you'll find I'm much more than a mere half blood."  
  
"Is that so?" snarled the creature as it stomped towards them.  
  
"Yes. I'm afraid it is," replied the boy as he jumped over the creature's shoulder and landed on the ground on the other side of it. Four gashes began to spray blood from its shoulder as pieces of the leathery wings fell to the ground.  
  
The creature roared in pain and spun around. Its teeth had become sharpened and its eyes had grown yellow. Flames began to erupt all around them, giving the room a sickly green glow. They emitted no smoke, and didn't harm the boy.  
  
"So. You are what happened to Gregorius," said the thing in a loud hissing screech.   
  
"This one is not weakened by another battle. We will be busy for quite some time boy. Keep up as best you can, and I will instruct you when I need you."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shu ho was losing her nerve. Green flames erupted from the windows of the temple periodically, along with chunks of stone and wood that sailed past her occasionally. She was watching a particularly large section of wall that had come within three inches of her head crash on the ground below with a horrified expression on her face. Tears continued to flow from her cheeks as she slowly crawled onto the flat surface of the summit and got a good look at the remains of the heavy wooden doors. "Grama will kill me if I run." She hung her head and dragged her feet as she walked towards the door with the point of her sword held low, along with her head.  
  
"This sucks. I hate honor and duty."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
The two combatants landed across from each other and immediately went to their knees. Neither one looked particularly winded, but there were a few new gashes on the demonic creature.   
  
"You are stronger than I expected."  
  
"You face the power of a full demon, not a halfling," replied the boy calmly. "I do not wish to be bothered with such triviality as assassins. Especially ones as weak as you."  
  
The thing screamed in rage as it rushed forward.  
  
"This could end it boy. Be ready," said Sesshoumaru coolly.  
  
The boy's head nodded slowly as the creature charged.  
  
"Ranma! Help me!" said Amelia.  
  
"Now boy! Now!"  
  
Both of the boy's hands shot out as he blinked in confusion. "What? Hey! One at a time!" He had almost instinctively tried to follow both commands.  
  
"Ra-Tilt!"  
  
"What?" gasped Sesshoumaru as he completed his own attack.  
  
A ball of white energy formed directly in front of them.  
  
"Wait! It's still not right?" muttered the girl in horror.  
  
"No! You fool!" snarled the demon dog angrily as he started to shift in a dodge. "What have you..."  
  
The ball erupted and blasted forward in a huge beam of power from their outstretched hands. The monster in front of them was engulfed in a white light that vaporized him.   
  
"Holy shit!" gasped Gai. "That was cool!"  
  
Ranma clutched at his chest as he fell to the ground. He felt tight and tired, but in a way he'd never felt before. "What was that?"  
  
"The combined might of a demons power coupled with a sorceress. So, we are to become demon hunters are we? So be it." Sesshoumaru glanced down at the discarded staff. It was the only thing that survived the blast. He picked it up and a green light burned around it like flames. "This should do for now. Mixing magic that way is dangerous. We should look into it a bit more, but not with so much power behind it. This could become a useful tool."  
  
"I feel like I just ran a hundred mile sprint," grumbled Ranma.   
  
"Your fragile human frame cannot handle too much magic at once. It could have destroyed us all, and it was a very stupid thing to do," said the demon calmly. They turned and saw a familiar face staring at them from the doorway.  
  
"What do you want?" he asked her calmly.  
  
"..." said the girl.  
  
"She won't bother us again," said the demon dog as he started them towards her.  
  
She didn't move and simply stared at him. "Who are you?"  
  
"Ranma Saotome," he replied simply. "I told you already."  
  
She punched him dead in the face. "What the hell is a punk like you doing running around grabbing women that way?!"  
  
He glanced down at her with a genuinely surprised frown. "Huh?"  
  
"You heard me!" she snapped. "Why didn't you just say you were a devil hunter anyway? No demon can produce that kind of magic, especially not so much of it."  
  
He narrowed his eyes at her and his frown deepened. "Get out of my way." He paused as he realized she had punched him. The flames that surrounded him were gone now. "Hey. Neat! It went away!" He smiled to himself cheerfully and walked out the broken remains of the door.  
  
"Hey! I'm not through chewing you out!" she snapped as she chased after him.  
  
He was looking down the opposite side of the mountain he'd come from. "Yeah you are." He simply stepped off the side and bounced his way down the side of the mountain skillfully.  
  
The girl growled down at him angrily with rage in her eyes. "I'd better not see you again jerk!"  
  
The boy was long gone by then though, and the Amazons were waiting for him. "Let him sweat it out for a few days. I was going to tell him about them when I was finished chewing him out." She rolled over onto her back and put her hands behind her head so she could look at the clouds.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Next Time: Grand Theft Auto: Hong Kong. 


	4. Insertion RE4

Insertion Reflux  
  
Part 4  
  
Things get sticky...  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Genma Saotome stood at the customs office at the port in China. His son would probably try and catch a boat home, neglecting his training. He didn't need such training any longer after all, so why should he suffer when the boy wasn't learning anything?   
  
"Do you have anything to claim?"  
  
"Thirty evil minions," said Genma.   
  
The customs officer craned his head around the man's shoulder and saw two rows of robed bald men with big dark hoods standing behind him. They all glared forward ominously.   
  
"Oh. Also an Ancient sword, I have the paperwork right here." The minions had proved themselves quite useful when they obtained these things for him. They weren't even forgeries.   
  
"Say. Why didn't we use forgeries? You are evil minions after all." Genma ignored the customs official as he looked at his minions for a moment.  
  
The lead minion spoke up. "Master, evil is evil, our purpose and our ways. It is, however, much more inexpensive to acquire proper paperwork."  
  
"Oh. Good work then."   
  
"Fill out these forms," grumbled the man as he hefted a large stack of forms onto the countertop.   
  
"Allow me master," said the evil minion as he took the pile and scurried back to the others. All of it was dumped on the smallest evil minion. He had glasses, incredibly squinted eyes, and large bucked teeth. It truly was an evil sight to behold such an awful stereotype.   
  
"Make sure to use a red pen," said Genma firmly. "These are business forms right?"  
  
"Yes, Master. Most evil indeed," agreed his new personal lackey. Genma kind of liked him. The others followed his orders, and he didn't have to deal with them directly. As they were evil minions, they were quite unpleasant.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
A small suburb, somewhere in Southwestern China...  
  
"Wha?" said Ranma as he peered at something he'd not seen for a very long time. "Paved roads!"   
  
"Yeah. No way those crazy bitches will follow us into a city!" said Gai cheerfully. Things were finally looking up for them. The place in front of them was little more than a more modernized village.  
  
"I would not count on that," said Sesshoumaru. "They still chase us even now, though we left them behind long ago. I can feel them moving towards us, but it is faint and distant. At best, they are three days behind us."  
  
"Are you kidding? They way they've hounded us?" snapped Faye. "These women have connections."  
  
"How do you figure? They're hunting us aren't they?" muttered Ranma. He'd never killed one, but a few had come dangerously close to meeting the demon's powers a few times. Sesshoumaru had taken to surprising him in the middle of a fight. He'd barely kept himself from taking out several more since that time. It was growing less difficult to escape them as well.   
  
"They remain as strong as they are under the government I've seen here? That tells me these humans have connections. It is a pity they are so hostile. The might have been of some use to us. They seem to have been useful to them in keeping track of our movement," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
"I hate you, Fluffy," said Ranma.  
  
Small red dots of light began to light up the street all around them. Ranma Saotome froze in place as he looked down at himself. "Oh shit." They were all over his chest.   
  
"Run!" screamed Gai as he dove for the ground and rolled. The place where they had been standing was torn to shreds as leaves and foliage was sent flying in every direction. They crawled to their feet and ran   
  
"A trap?!" cried the boy as he bounded over a small chain link fence and into someone's back yard.   
  
He rushed out into the street by hopping the fence on the other side. No one else was firing at him, and he started jumping across the rooftops and further into the suburbs.  
  
"Where the hell are we?" asked Gai.  
  
"Somewhere in China. This is just a residential area," grumbled Faye. Scores of tiny identical homes littered the landscape for a long way into the distance. "We need to get out of here."  
  
"I'm all for that," agreed Gai. He jumped off the edge of the building they were standing on and into the yard below. They had lost their tail. The men lying in wait for them were all snipers set up around the edge of the road.  
  
"Someone told them we were coming? Who though?" asked Faye.  
  
"Probably those Amazons. We have not seen them, but they have had scouts following us rather closely. A pinpoint strike like this was not surprising. I could sense them...but..." His voice sounded slightly off for some reason no one but him could understand. "These were not women though, male assassins."  
  
"You knew about this?" screamed Ranma at the top of his lungs. He wasn't even bothering to notice that his body was climbing into a rather ragged looking pickup truck.   
  
"What the hell?" said Faye suddenly.  
  
Everyone's attention went to what they were doing. They were sitting in the cab of someone's vehicle. It was parked in front of one of the homes. It was nothing more than a very old and ragged pickup truck. "What the hell is this?" Muttered Faye as her eyes searched around the cab.  
  
"What are we looking for?" asked Gai suddenly.   
  
"The ignition! I don't see a data input device or anything!"  
  
"I'm driving," said Gai as he calmly reached under the steering well and pulled out a few cables. He calmly ripped two of them off and began to twist the ends. After a moment he hit them together a few times and the vehicle started immediately. He shifted and started chugging down the road. "It's just really old, that's all."  
  
"Oh," said the woman dumbly. She paused for a moment. "You're serious aren't you?"  
  
"Yup. We're way in the past, remember?" said Gai with a small shrug. "Don't have much hope of finding anything really interesting. No giant robots or nothing, I bet we can't even find a little robot." He sounded somewhat wistful as he said this.  
  
"We don't need this crate," growled Sesshoumaru. "We need to become stronger. Staying on foot would be much better for that."  
  
"You've never seen guns before have you?" asked Gai. "If you have, I'll bet it was nothing like the things they have here. Some of them can fire hundreds of rounds in only a few seconds. Bullets can kill from a lot farther away now, and you don't have to load after each shot. We should probably find some guns for ourselves actually." He was driving the truck with an almost lazy familiarity.   
  
"That's a good idea," agreed Faye.  
  
"Why? My magic will be more than enough," said Sesshoumaru coolly.   
  
"I agree. I don't like the sound of a weapon like that," grumbled Amelia.  
  
"We're being hunted. I agree with those two," said Ranma calmly. "Martial arts isn't the way you fight these kind of people. I was taught to avoid them if at all possible, strike quick and hard. You don't want them to remember your face if you have to fight them."  
  
"That's good advice," said Faye.   
  
"Pop told me that," replied the boy simply.   
  
"You know kid, given infinite time, you could sit a monkey at a typewriter and it would write the entire works of Shakespeare."   
  
"What the hell does that mean?" asked Gai and Ranma at the same time.  
  
Faye sounded disgusted. "Even a complete ass can give good advice if he constantly spews bad advice. Sooner or later he's got to screw it up accidentally."  
  
"Pop tells me lots of useful stuff. I've gotten lost a couple of times, and learning all that stuff made getting by a lot easier."  
  
"He is his father," grumbled Amelia.   
  
"I suppose we're going to Japan anyway. We're gonna have to start some kind of rules about clothing. Do you have any idea how loose this shirt is? I'm bouncing all over the place here!" She frowned and adjusted the mirror on the vehicle to see her face.  
  
"Cut that out! This thing is old and we need to watch the road. Even in this time this thing is old," snapped Gai.  
  
"He is correct, there may be threats in our path. Even in this...thing, we must be cautious. I do not think it will offer us much protection, though it is fast. I am surprised at the progress we've made so far."  
  
"You call this fast? We're doing like ten kilometers an hour!" snorted Gai distastefully. "This thing is a heap. We need to find a better car, something we can outrun our problems with."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Three hours later...  
  
"Augh! You piece of junk!" screamed Faye as she forced them to kick the broken down truck. They were in them middle of the city now. It wasn't a very large city, just a little nowhere place in the middle of China. There were several tall buildings, and a few large government complexes. As it was, they were in the middle of the street in the middle of the night.   
  
There were a few cars parked about, but not many people on the streets. In fact, they hadn't seen a soul since their arrival.  
  
"Can we just find a place to crash? I'm tired," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"So go to sleep," replied Faye calmly. "We can all sleep while you're awake you know."  
  
"What?" he said dumbly.  
  
"Ranma. Didn't you notice that you'd wake up sometimes already walking and miles away from where you were?" asked Amelia in confusion.  
  
"Huh? No, not really. Pop does that to me all the time."  
  
"Ranma. Your father isn't here," said Faye irritably.  
  
"Oh. Oh yeah," said the boy dumbly.   
  
"Now what?" asked Gai. "I don't think I can fix this heap."  
  
"We start walkin again," replied Ranma. "We need to lay low for a while. Let's find an out of the way place to crash. I don't want to get stopped by the cops for bein out so late."  
  
"We will lose some of our lead," said Sesshoumaru.  
  
The area seemed somewhat seedy. Dark alleyways and a misty haze over the street gave the place a sort of presence around them. Not that any of them were all that impressed.  
  
"Wow. Scary," muttered Amelia.  
  
"Huh? Really?" asked Ranma in confusion. "Why?"  
  
"This isn't the best of neighborhoods, but I've handled worse kid," said Faye with a reassuring tone.   
  
"I am not a kid! I'm just not used to this sort of thing," she replied in a sharp tone that quickly drifted into embarrassment.   
  
"Great. What the hell is that supposed to mean?" muttered Gai. They had started down the street again and a small strip of bars lined the road on either side of them. It was early enough that they were still open, but probably not for too much longer. "Hey, can we..."  
  
"That's not a bad idea," agreed Faye. "Maybe we can sit down and think about our little mess for a little while."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
No one said anything or even really noticed as Ranma stepped out of the bathroom wiping his wet hair out of his eyes and back. He shook his head a few times and put it back into place. There were still quite a few patrons in the place. Mostly men, but there were a scattered few women sitting around the room as well.   
  
He looked around for a moment and walked up to the bar. "Whiskey, on the rocks."  
  
The man stared at her and she produced a few bills and pointed to a picture of what he wanted on the menu in front of him.  
  
"What's that?" asked Amelia. "Um. I'm not so sure about this..."  
  
"Relax kid, I'm sure most of us have done this before," said Gai cheerfully.   
  
"We are not getting drunk. We don't have a place to stay right now remember?" grumbled Faye. "One drink, and then we have to leave."  
  
"You seem out of place," said a voice from beside them. A Chinese man with slicked back hair walked up to him as he puffed on a cigarette.  
  
"I'm just passing through," he replied calmly. "Don't want no trouble."  
  
"I understand. Tell me, what business brings you to this remote place?"  
  
"As I said, I'm just passin through. I'm on my way back home, from a long training trip."  
  
"Martial artist?" asked the man calmly. He noticed Ranma's eyes were searching up and down his body carefully. "Got a name?"  
  
"Gai, Daigojii Gai." The boy frowned at him as he studied him a bit longer. "Did you want something?"  
  
"You speak our language very well," said the man calmly.  
  
"I didn't get your name?"  
  
"I didn't give it," he replied. "I find your story interesting Mr. Daigojii. I've always been somewhat interested in your culture, so similar, yet so different from our own. I'm wondering if you might be interested in an offer I might make you? Should you choose to stay around for a few days."  
  
"I'm afraid not. I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'm separated from my father. The stupid trip was his idea. I'm leaving, right after I finish this." He downed the glass, dropped a bill on the counter and turned away from the bar. He walked outside and into the street and looked around the area.   
  
"It is a trap," said Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Thought so," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"The triads are after us?!" cried Faye. "Shit!"  
  
"Who the hell did you think shot at us before?" asked Gai.   
  
"I dunno, amazon trained assassins working for the Triads maybe?" replied the woman with a little fading hope still in her voice.  
  
"These are men, around twenty of them. Poised for a chase if the marksmen fail to hit us."  
  
"Where are the marksmen?" asked Faye.  
  
"On the rooftop above us, we won't be in their line of sight until we walk into the middle of the street. He turned them into an alleyway and crashed their hand through the driver's side window of the black car that was parked there. He calmly lifted the man inside at the wheel out of the car by his throat and tossed him over his shoulder. "I trust you can operate this?"  
  
Gai grinned as he took the wheel. "Wow. An air conditioner! Sweet!" He turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the alleyway. Three other cars were already pulling out of hiding after them. Five more men on small motorcycles blasted out of the smaller alleys at top speed.   
  
"Please," muttered Faye as she reached over to pop open the glove compartment. "Oh wow! This is great! I think we stole that guy's car! This one was probably waiting for him." Two forty-five millimeter handguns and a shoulder harness for them fell out onto the seat.   
  
"He wasn't there when we went into the bathroom," said Ranma. "They must have spotted us going in."  
  
"Why would he know to talk to us then?" asked Faye. "We were a girl when we walked in there."  
  
"As I said. Amazon connections, they will use the city's underworld to hunt us, and the authorities will ignore it. If they happen to arrest us..." Sesshoumaru was growing quite impressed with the methods these humans hunted them. They were quite merciless.   
  
"We'll be sitting ducks in jail," growled Faye.   
  
Bullets started to hit the trunk of the vehicle and Gai squealed around a corner. "Damn thing. It's automatic!" he growled.   
  
"That's good right?" asked Faye.  
  
"Not in a car this old, no," he replied lamely.   
  
"What is this thing anyway?" asked Faye.   
  
"A Ford," said Ranma. "That's what the little blue circle said anyway. Gaijin word I think."  
  
"Well it's not Chinese," said Faye flatly.  
  
"It's American," said Gai. "The guy invented cars."  
  
The glass in the back window shattered as two of the bikes pulled up on either side of their vehicle.  
  
"How stupid are these jerks?" asked Gai as he simply swerved from side to side and took them both out easily.   
  
Faye grabbed the gun and started firing.   
  
"What's this?" grumbled Sesshoumaru as he watched the front windshield of the vehicle behind them crack as it spun out of control suddenly and flipped over in the air a few times. It landed on top of one of the other cars chasing them and both exploded in a huge ball of flames.  
  
"Wow! I can't believe I made that shot," gasped Faye.  
  
The men behind them were hanging from the windows with automatic rifles in their hands.   
  
"Where the hell are the police?!" cried Faye.  
  
"Are you insane? You want the cops to show up?" cried Ranma.   
  
The flashing lights of a Chinese Police cruiser began behind them. Two others just like them appeared moments later.  
  
"Shit," growled Gai. He started to slow down and pull over.  
  
"What the hell are you doing you asshole!?" cried almost everyone else. Amelia left out the last part. Faye jammed her foot into the gas as hard as she could. They squealed away once again, actually gaining a few moments over the confused police.   
  
The triad vehicles had turned away once the police had arrived, turning off one at a time down different roads as soon as the lights had started flashing.   
  
The man from the bar was sitting in the front seat of the back car. He narrowed his eyes and glared down the road the boy had taken as he turned away. "I'll remember this." He puffed on his cigarette angrily and focused on where he was going once again.   
  
"Do something!" snapped Ranma as he tried playing with some of the buttons. All he accomplished was turning on the radio. The song, 'I ran so far away' by A Flock of Seagulls started blaring through the speakers.   
  
"Gah! Quit playing with things if you don't know what you're doing kid!" snapped Faye. "You're gonna get us all killed!"  
  
Gai was nodding his head as he rolled down the windows. "This is so awesome! It's just like that video game! Cruisin 1987! I used to love that game! It had every car ever produced throughout the year! The physics engine was awesome! They handled just like the real thing, I used to live for it before I discovered my true destiny in Gekkiganger!"  
  
"Yeah. So you know what you're doing?"  
  
"Heh," Gai narrowed their eyes as he shifted the gears and slammed his foot down on the gas. "Player one! Please insert coin!"  
  
"Oh shit," said Faye.  
  
"What?" asked Ranma and Amelia.  
  
"We seem to be in for a most interesting ride," commented Sesshoumaru. "Judging by her reaction to that. I do hope we aren't damaged too badly. Then again, a bit of time in prison might do us some good? I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun killing their assassins while we grow stronger in relative safety."  
  
"I ain't goin to jail for no one!" cried Ranma as he focused his attention on steering the vehicle. Anything he could help Gai do to keep them alive and away from the cops.  
  
  
  
"Wait a minute," grumbled Gai. He turned into the opposite side of the road and into traffic, skillfully weaving back and fourth as he navigated the panicked drivers in front of him skillfully. "That guy said something about work?"  
  
Faye seemed to light up suddenly as she realized what he was talking about. "He's right! If we're useful to them, then they won't kill us."  
  
"It's a trap stupid!" snapped Amelia.   
  
"Yeah, it is," said Gai.   
  
"Wait a minute, what the hell are you doing!?" cried Faye.   
  
Their car swerved under the back end of a gigantic semi trailer. Sparks flew off the top of the roof as it became slightly dented. The police squealed to a halt on the other side of the braking vehicle as it completely blocked off the off ramp he had just taken. "There. We need to ditch this car," said Gai. He quickly turned off the main road and into a back street. He turned into a large park and stopped the car in a parking space near the edge. He quickly hopped out of the car and jerked at the edges of his collar reflexively. "Come on. We need to get away from here."  
  
"Do this sort of thing often?" asked Faye.  
  
"Never anything like this," said the man. "I've gotten into my fair share of trouble though. It is required to have the dramatic back story needed to become a pilot worthy of Gekkiganger itself!"  
  
"What?" muttered Faye. "Look. I have done this sort of thing before all right? So why don't you curb the macho crap and let me do the thinking all right?" She turned them around and reached into the back of the car to pull out a long black coat from the back seat. She quickly put it on and grumbled as she adjusted it so that the guns hanging off of their shoulders were hidden from view. "Idiots."  
  
"Huh? Is it over?" muttered Ranma. "Are the headlights gone?"  
  
They were about to turn away when something thumped behind them.   
  
"What was that?" asked Faye.  
  
"We don't want to know," muttered Ranma.   
  
"What was that?" asked Amelia in confusion. They were looking back and saw nothing but empty parking space and the park itself. No people were anywhere to be seen. It was getting later, and he had little choice but to guess where the noise was coming from.  
  
The sound happened again, this time their eyes turned to the source. It was coming from the trunk. "No. No. No," muttered Ranma in horror.  
  
"We should go," said Faye with a slightly nervous sounding laugh. "We don't have keys anyway. I can't pick a lock with anything we've got on us either."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Gai as he took over and walked over to the driver's side door. He calmly popped the trunk with the lever under the dashboard. "It's easy to open. See."  
  
Muffled sounding noises started in the trunk behind them. It sounded like a person. They slowly turned towards the trunk and hung their heads further and further as they grew closer. It was increasingly obvious what was inside.   
  
Why, a young and pretty Chinese girl of about sixteen years in age, of course! She was dirty and tied up, with duct tape covering her mouth. She stared up at them fearfully and shied away from them by backing further into the trunk. They just stood there and looked at her.  
  
  
  
"I don't think that was a trap for us. It was some sort of pickup, and we screwed it up," muttered Faye. "This is bad."  
  
"How bad? I mean, we saved her," said Amelia.  
  
"It depends on who she is," answered Faye. "If she's important, then we might have started some kind of war. It's not all bad, because they had snipers in place. It was probably a double cross."  
  
"It likely would have happened anyway," agreed Sesshoumaru. "We should destroy her and leave the body. That will lessen the blow to us if she is found dead. Only one of the parties will be offended. It was fairly obvious she was meant to die with whoever was supposed to meet that human."  
  
"No!" cried Amelia firmly. "She needs our help! Right Mr. Yamada?"  
  
"Gai. Damn it. Gai!" he snapped. "Otherwise you're right."  
  
Ranma wasn't happy to see her, but he wasn't about to leave her there either. "This sucks. I hope she knows somewhere we can take her that's not too far from here."  
  
The girl was around his age, and she didn't look very happy to see him either.  
  
He reached down at her face and she tried to scream as she backed away. He calmly ripped the tape off her face and glared at her. "Who the hell are you?"  
  
The girl stared up at him in silence.  
  
"Please, tell me you speak Japanese?" muttered the strange boy irritably.  
  
"A little," she muttered dumbly. "Who are you? Did my father send you?"  
  
"Who is your father?" he asked as his head hung down again. "Tell me what he does also please. Don't lie either, don't forget where I found you."  
  
"My father is Li Shao. He is the leader of the Golden Tigers..."  
  
"Triads, damn it," muttered the boy as he conked his head against the open trunk.   
  
"You do not have anything to do with this do you?" she asked him as a sly looking smirk formed on her face.   
  
"No. I've got a hit on me. I thought it was a trap," he grumbled dejectedly.   
  
"If you help me, my father will reward you," said the girl as her smile grew wider. She grabbed his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes.  
  
"Could you stop that?" he muttered as he frowned at her. "Look. Traveling with me is not a good idea. I've got a hit out on me."  
  
"If you take me back to Hong Kong, my father may be able to help you."  
  
"No," he said flatly. "Across town maybe, but Hong Kong?" He started walking.  
  
"Wait! You can't leave me here! I'd never make it home before they stopped me!"  
  
The boy's arm raised and she screamed as the weapon in his hand reported. She slumped to the ground as blood sprayed through the air.   
  
"Now you can make it home," he said simply as he put his weapon away.   
  
The wound on her shoulder was little more than a very messy scratch, but the bullet had lodged itself inside the trunk, and splattered the entire interior with blood. She looked back at it in horrified shock as blood flowed down her arm.   
  
The boy tore pieces off of her skirt and wrapped them around the wound firmly, making sure to clean the blood off her arm before too much could drip onto the ground. He calmly closed the trunk lid and turned away from her.  
  
"When the triads in this area find this car. They'll assume you died. He opened he passenger side door and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from the visor. He tossed them to her with a few bills folded between the rims. "Buy a coat like this one first thing, and don't tell anyone who you are until you're safe. By the time they figure out you're not dead, you'll be home."  
  
He turned away from her and left her sitting on the pavement.   
  
"But...but..." she muttered in horror.  
  
"Look. You'll be safer on your own than you will be with me. They're hunting me too you know."  
  
The girl looked very frightened as she stared down at the glasses. She paused for a moment. They were high mark bills, and she had more than enough to make the trip relatively comfortably sitting in her palm. Taking the bus would be unwise she'd have to hire a long distance taxi instead. They were close to the city, but it would still be about a two-hour drive though. She glanced up at him as he stood there staring off into space a few yards away from her. Having cash made things easier. She didn't have to give her real name, and could keep to herself for the ride. Trying to bribe someone into taking her safely home in this area with just her name would have been risky.  
  
"Are they?" asked Sesshoumaru coolly. "Amazon trained assassins maybe. The triads are after us now regardless. We do not know which of these Triads are hunting us. I've gathered this term is used for several groups."  
  
"He's right. We don't know who is hunting us," agreed Faye.  
  
"If we help her, we can get back at them," pointed out Amelia. "I don't like leaving her here. We should help her!"  
  
"That's a bad idea," said Ranma simply. "We need to leave China. It's too dangerous here. We've got to get back to Japan."  
  
"I don't think you realize just how dangerous that will be," said Sesshoumaru. "This is nothing to what we will face on an open sea."  
  
"So we'll go by air then," grumbled Gai.  
  
"The skies will not be any kinder to us. Yokai of this world seem to remain hidden for some reason. If given sufficient reason, they will emerge from hiding. We are sufficient reason."  
  
"We aren't taking her with us, that's final," snorted Faye. They turned to see the girl had already vanished from the parking lot. "See?" She paused. "How much did we give her anyway?"  
  
"Enough," said Ranma with a final sounding snort. "I couldn't just abandon her ya know."  
  
"It took a week for us to make that much!" snapped Faye angrily.   
  
"We got plenty," grumbled the boy.  
  
"The hell! I'm going shopping when we get back!" she snapped at him.   
  
"That sounds nice!" agreed Amelia.  
  
"What!?" cried Gai. "No! Ranma! We can't escape!"  
  
"Escape what?" asked the boy dumbly.  
  
Gai gasped. He would have to be strong for the boy. "I cannot prepare you for what we must face. You must be ready. You must not be afraid."  
  
"I ain't afraid of nuthin!" snapped the boy in retort.  
  
"Oooooh! You will be. You will be," replied Gai ominously.   
  
"Cut it out you two," grumbled Faye.  
  
"What the heck did I do?" asked Ranma impatiently. "Jeez. I'm getting yelled at for nuthin."  
  
They found themselves standing in the middle of the street with no idea where they were. It was becoming a bit of a problem for them. "Hey. You don't suppose that Hibiki kid..." said Gai dumbly.   
  
"Where are we?" asked Ranma lamely.   
  
"Oooh!" Faye felt a little weak kneed at what was sitting before her.   
  
A polished red sports car was sitting in the parking lot of a nightclub. The glare of the neon lights above the hole in the ground club reflected off the surface of the vehicle. A lone bouncer stood at the single tiny entrance to the building a good distance away. Otherwise, the street was vacant.  
  
Gai was licking their lips as he stared at it.  
  
"Why are we looking at that thing like this?" asked Amelia in confusion.  
  
"Hey Faye. I figure we've already done it once tonight."  
  
"I'm with you. This is more my style."  
  
"Hey! Where the heck are we going now?!" cried Ranma irritably as they walked over to the shadows around the vehicle.  
  
"Damn. An alarm," she grumbled as she noticed the blinking light inside the windshield.   
  
"What are we doing?" asked Amelia innocently.   
  
"We're going to steal this car," said Gai. "Might take a minute to think around it though." He scratched their head as he peered into the window.  
  
"No! Stealing is wrong! I won't allow this!" she cried.   
  
"Hey. Fluffy, got any ideas?" asked Ranma.  
  
  
  
The demon seemed surprised at the inquiry. "I suppose we could try using magic to get past this...alarm you speak of. What is it?"  
  
"It's security. If we hit the car too loud, it sounds a loud alarm. Attracting lots of attention to us," said Gai. "I think we should leave it for now."  
  
"We ain't doin this crap in Japan!" snapped Ranma angrily.   
  
"Whatever. I do not see how this hunk of metal will make any sound. Is there some sort of creature inside we need to destroy?" Sesshoumaru seemed particularly interested in what might be hiding inside this strange thing before him.   
  
"Naw. It's just electronics stuff. Electricity."  
  
"That should pose no problem. Human control of such energy is extremely limited, even in this time."  
  
"Sure. Tell me what to do!" Ranma was a healthy sixteen-year-old boy. When faced with the might of such a vehicle, even he could not resist the temptation. The vehicle before him was sleek, and well over the hundred thousand dollar range. Not that he was aware of that, it just looked fast.  
  
  
  
"Focus your attention on the device you wish to get past. I will do the rest."  
  
"Okay," the boy stared down at the blinking light and focused on it.  
  
A few seconds later sparks began to shoot out of the alarm as the light bulb shattered.   
  
Gai smiled as Faye skillfully started picking the lock. "All too easy!" she said as she opened the door and slid into the seat. "Hey! This is real leather!"  
  
"Duh," grumbled Gai. "The ignition on this thing is a bit more complicated..."  
  
"It should pose no problem," snorted Sesshoumaru. The vehicle started as he and Ranma simply twisted the ignition without a key. "The device is similar to that alarm. I only needed to overpower it, supplying enough energy for this simple task poses no problems. I must simply direct it to the correct points within this monstrosity. We do not need this vehicle, where we are going, it could become a dangerous trap for us."  
  
"Heh. You thought that truck was fast?" Gai revved the engine as he pulled out of the parking lot at high speed. "Wait till you get a load of this."  
  
"I don't like this! Stealing is wrong!" muttered Amelia uncomfortably. "We'll be fine on..."  
  
The engine roared and the boy calmly shifted gears. "Ah. Manual transmission." He shot into the air over a small hump in the road and came down ten feet further down on the road.   
  
"We need to find a place to stop and rest," grumbled Faye.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat alone in a small abandoned building. The car was parked underneath a small overhang in the back of the building. The place was boarded up and he'd be leaving early in the morning. They could stay up as long as they wanted, but his body did need rest from time to time.   
  
"We can only stay a few hours," grumbled Ranma.   
  
"We have plenty of time then. Those weapons we obtained. Take them out. I wish to take a look at them."  
  
The boy did as instructed and pulled out one of the guns.   
  
"Both of them please," said the monster coolly. "I would like to check something."  
  
"These weapons, are both of the same mold?" He switched the weapons in his hands. The boy was surprised to find that it felt better to hold them that way.   
  
"They are mass produced. A certain amount of handwork goes into it, but mostly they're just stamped parts made by machines."  
  
"Yes. These two weapons were made by the same hands, with the same mold. It is enough to suit our purpose."  
  
"What's that?" asked Faye.  
  
"I think I know," said Amelia. She actually seemed pleased with the idea. "If he's right, then we can put magic into them easy! I haven't learned anything about doing it though. I'm not sure if it will work."  
  
"These weapons are nearly identical, the younger one, in our left hand, is the perfect vessel for my power. The older weapon will take light power more easily. Such weapons are very rare, for obvious reasons. They are quite powerful though, and will give us an edge in battle."  
  
"Enough to go home?" asked Ranma hopefully.  
  
"Possibly. I do not yet know the answer to that question. I've got something in mind for those projectiles of yours as well."  
  
"The bullets?" asked Gai.  
  
Amelia seemed somewhat pensive. "I don't know if I can do this."  
  
"You can trust me with this task. I shall need your power, and a balance must be maintained. I cannot overpower the dark weapon or it will be useless to us."  
  
The girl sighed. "I know he's not lying to us. I'm not sure what he's going to do to them exactly either."  
  
Sesshoumaru placed both weapons on the floor in front of them and put his hands over both of them. "I must concentrate. This is not an easy task. Girl, give the boy some of your power, I will do the rest with his help. You must pay attention boy. We must get this right the first time."  
  
Ranma nodded firmly and they closed their eyes.  
  
A soft glow formed around each one on the floor. He could feel the light against his skin. Slowly, writing began to engrave itself into the framework of the weapons. One of the auras died down and actually began to feel cold; the other seemed to grow warmer.   
  
After about ten minutes Ranma opened his eyes and looked down at the floor. The weapons had changed in appearance and now had runes covering both of them. The metal of one had taken on a red tint, and the other had become almost blue. He picked them up and stared at them for a moment.   
  
"I liked the old colors better," said Ranma.   
  
"It is too late to do anything about it now," snorted the Demon. "I had no particular preference, so I allowed the magic to do as it wished with them."  
  
The boy sighed and put them both away. "Right. Are we done?"  
  
"No," said Amelia. She reached into their pocket and pulled out the clips of the weapons and a pocketknife. "We need to carve some runes into these little metal things."  
  
"They're called bullets," said Gai.  
  
"Whatever," said the girl irritably. "Fluffy has to do some, and I have to do some. If I use certain symbols I can put spells into them. Kind of like enchanting arrows. Nothing too fancy though. Mostly I can add an elemental effect of some kind; fire and ice are the easiest two. It's remedial magic to add runes to things though, so I can do it no problem."  
  
"Fire and wind should be simple enough for me. I'll allow you to handle the others," said the demon.  
  
"Oh. I'm not very good with water..." grumbled the girl.  
  
"Whatever, can we get this over with?" muttered Ranma. He started plucking bullets out of the clips and placed them in two separate piles. With a small sigh he picked up one of the positively charged bullets. "We're alternating. I don't feel like writing the same thing over and over." Ranma glared down at what he was doing a little harder. "Don't cut us."  
  
"We will need to make more bullets with my runes on them," said Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"What? No!" snapped Amelia angrily. "It has to be balanced!"  
  
"The weapons yes. However, I can overpower your magic in these, bullets, as you call them. My spells will be much stronger. We will need that strength. I have no intention to waste them on mere human filth. My magic will be far more potent in dealing with other demons."  
  
Amelia made an unhappy sounding grunt and decided to pout about it. She didn't try to argue with him any more though. "My life is over. I'm nothing but a common criminal."  
  
"You didn't steal the car, we did," said Faye cheerfully. "Don't feel bad. You couldn't have stopped both of us."  
  
"Yeah. Ranma helped too, so it was all three of us," agreed Gai.  
  
"Fluffy got us past the alarm, and he started it," pointed out Ranma.  
  
"Well I didn't want to give him any credit," grumbled Faye.  
  
"That's not the point!" snapped the girl irritably as she gave up. She'd done her very best, that was all that really mattered at the moment. She'd just have to keep trying to convince them that the path of light really was the best path.   
  
"Cut that out!" snapped Ranma as he shook himself out of a disgustingly cute pout.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he gripped the steering wheel of the sports car and drove down an empty stretch of road. He was heading for the coast and home. It had been almost three hours since his last stop, and nothing of interest had occurred.   
  
His fingers had several bandages on them as well.  
  
The road behind him was long and dark, and the moon was still hanging in the night sky. Soon, the sun would rise on China again. He saw the lights of Hong Kong in the near distance and smirked to himself.   
  
"Civilization!" cried Faye in triumph. "Real civilization at last!" She seemed very happy to see the city.  
  
Ranma was somewhat relieved to see it himself.   
  
"Don't let it fool you, this is a dangerous place," said Sesshoumaru. "We are still being hunted, and they can hide in the numbers as well as we can. I would advise caution. There will be other dangers as well, those women are not the only ones who hunt us."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome walked through a set of rotating doors with a frown on his face. He found himself standing in the lobby of an expensive looking hotel.  
  
"We ain't spendin all our money!" snapped Ranma angrily.   
  
"Oh please. Like we won't make more," said Faye as she strolled into a hotel and leaned against the counter. She smiled at the man behind the counter cheerfully. "I'd like a room please."  
  
"I need a bath," said Amelia impatiently. She was growing weary of Ranma's whining about the stop. Even Lina Inverse, the world's greatest cheapskate, would stop at an inn occasionally. She found herself feeling slightly homesick as she remembered the time Lina had proudly displayed the award she'd won at a meal once. It all seemed so long ago, and a good night's sleep would do her a world of good anyway.   
  
"I could use some sleep in a real bed myself," said Gai.   
  
"All right fine," growled the boy irritably.  
  
None of this was noticed as Faye concentrated on keeping them collected and calm. She accepted the key and placed the money on the counter. "See. We've still got plenty left."   
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Deep in the shadows, somewhere far beneath the city's darkest underbelly...  
  
"He has come master," hissed the thing as it bowed deeply to the creature sitting on the throne of fire and skulls in front of an endless sea of flames. The creature had massive horns that rose high into the cavernous interior of the inferno. Gigantic wings rested folded at its back as it peered at the cowering demon before him.   
  
"Destroy it."  
  
"As you wish," the monster cocked its head in a small bow and scurried away quickly.   
  
"This one could be annoying if not dealt with quickly. I sense he is already very strong. Most unusual for one so young." The beast didn't seem too concerned with its newfound problem. It would probably be dealt with in a few short hours.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The streets of Hong Kong were teeming with life as lunch rolled around in the city. Ranma Saotome stepped out of the hotel in a bright red Hawaiian shirt. He had a pair of sunglasses on, and a pair of faded blue jeans. He looked quite irate as he found himself surrounded by hundreds of people. They hadn't let him leave the hotel until now. Sesshoumaru was complaining as well, but the others ignored them and spent most of the morning relaxing around the room.  
  
"I feel so stupid," grumbled the Japanese boy irritably.  
  
"We look good," said Gai irritably.  
  
"Definitely handsome," agreed Faye. The boy had actually been forced by the girls to put gel in his hair that morning. Now it was slicked back and neat looking. A short visit to the small shop in the lobby had supplied them with their new wardrobe, and a few toiletries for cleaning themselves up a bit.  
  
He still had the staff strapped across his back, and both handguns were hidden in the back of his pants. He strolled towards the garage building nearby where he had parked. A small screwdriver was shoved into his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it around his hand a few times while whistling cheerfully. He walked to the back of his car and switched license plates with the car next to him. "We should get to the docks," commented Gai as he calmly opened the door. Sesshoumaru's power easily bypassed the tumblers in the ignition switch and the vehicle came to life.   
  
"I am not certain that is wise. We are stronger, but strong enough to face what waits for us out there?"  
  
"This had better not be a let down, Fluffy," grumbled Gai. "If we go through all of this, and have a nice peaceful ride home..."  
  
"I assure you that will not happen," replied the demon calmly. "If we venture out into the sea, we will be destroyed. I said only that we would return to Japan. There are ways of doing that, and this place is a good way to get started in finding such a way. Come, we have a lot of work ahead of us, this will take a bit of time I imagine."  
  
"What?" muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
"We will return to your home before the year is out," said the Demon calmly. "There is much to do before then."  
  
"Like what?!" snapped Faye angrily.   
  
"Staying alive long enough to find a way," replied the demon coolly.   
  
They all stopped and glanced around. A ring of men in suits and ties surrounded them. He had been about to shift the car into gear, but turned off the engine as he glanced around at them. The window was open and he popped his head out to speak with them. "What the heck do you want?"  
  
"Li Shao, wishes to speak with you," said one of the men.  
  
"All right," replied the boy with a smirk forming on his face. He opened the door and stepped out in front of them. They weren't acting very hostile yet.  
  
"What?!" cried Ranma inside their mind.   
  
"Are you crazy?" agreed Gai.  
  
"I don't think this is a very good idea," muttered Amelia. "I mean..."  
  
"We saved his daughter, he owes us." Faye pointed this fact out quickly.   
  
"She didn't seem to happy with us when she took off," grumbled Gai.  
  
"I see no problems for us. We are more than strong enough to escape if need be," replied the demon calmly. "I imagine if the situation was dire enough, you would allow me out for a moment or two. Wouldn't you?"  
  
The boy calmed considerably. "I guess you're right."  
  
"This way," said one of the men as he opened the door of the vehicle that had just pulled up in front of them.  
  
The men all piled in around him. He could see they were all armed.   
  
"You will have to give up your weapons when you meet him," said one of the men.  
  
"Why? I'm just as deadly without them," replied the boy calmly. "I take it Li Shao's daughter has returned safely?"  
  
The men all stared at him at once for a brief moment. They turned away from him and stayed silent while they drove through the streets of Hong Kong.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma found himself standing in the middle of a rather nice looking restaurant. He glanced around the room quickly as he walked in and spotted three more guards besides the three that had brought him. All of the men had pistols poorly hidden on them. They wanted him to know they were there.  
  
A rather old man was sitting at the table. He looked far to old to be the father of a girl that age. He was the man they were sent to speak with though, they were certain of that much.  
  
"You helped my daughter. She told me of what happened."  
  
The boy sat down across from the man and glanced around the room. "I did what I could. I'm in a bit of a mess, so it wasn't safe to bring her myself."  
  
"I understand. Living with a mark like the one you've got isn't easy. The Jade Dragons do not show mercy with any of their contracts. I am not prepared to oppose them for your sake. Though I am grateful for your help. It does not hurt that my daughter is now dead in the eyes of my enemies. I could use that to my advantage."  
  
The boy simply nodded.   
  
"I take it you want the bounty I posted?"  
  
"Bounty?" Faye was suddenly very interested in this man.  
  
"Five million American, to the man who got my daughter home safely to me," replied the man simply. "You are a very talented man. Got a name?" The man was eating and seemed to only be half interested in his conversation.  
  
"Gai," replied the boy simply.   
  
"Heh. Well, Gai, if your interested, I can offer you a bit of work. I've got several contracts you might be interested in. We're always looking for new blood."  
  
"I am not a mercenary," replied the boy simply.  
  
"Oh? What is it you do then?"  
  
Sesshoumaru cut off all the lies and stated it quite simply. "I hunt demons."  
  
The man stopped eating and slowly looked up at the serious glare the boy was giving him. "I see." He glanced around the room. Calmly taking his napkin off his lap he wiped at his chin. "Everyone leave, now."  
  
The men all stared at the man in shock.  
  
"The Jade Dragon would not touch a hair on your head if that is the truth. I think Mao Sheng will be most interested in knowing about this. Those foolish women are overstepping their bounds. These are matters that are far too dangerous for our kind to deal in. We skirt the line between light and darkness far closer than most."  
  
The boy kept silent and simply watched the man. His surprised underlings reluctantly obeyed his command.   
  
"No one as serious as you would make such a claim if it wasn't true. If you had wanted me dead, I would never have known you were coming at all. I've seen eyes like those before."  
  
"What's going on?" asked Ranma to the panel.  
  
"Got me," muttered Gai in confusion. "I think this is good though."  
  
"I'm not so sure I like this. It's too complicated, and the Triads are really deep into this. We shouldn't trust them this much," said Faye.  
  
"Maybe he really wants to help us?" asked Amelia nervously. The man seemed more indifferent than anything else; he hadn't so much as arched an eyebrow since Fluffy let the beans spill.  
  
"Fools. Families and organizations such as these are always involved with the occult on some level. If you want to return home, we will need the help of this city's underbelly."  
  
"I say we see what this is about," said the boy firmly. "Fluffy's been real interested in keeping himself alive. Besides, like he said, we can handle it."  
  
Ranma looked at the man evenly and nodded. "All right."  
  
"I'll be able to tell you more later this evening. No doubt this is a surprise to you. Until then, you are my guest. I'll have one of my men escort you to a room in a safe place."  
  
"I don't think so. I'll find my way to you thanks. Just give me a time and place, and I'll be on my way."  
  
"You are very distrusting," said the old man without looking back at the boy. He had started walking towards the back door already.   
  
"I still don't have my weapons back yet," said the boy calmly. "Not that I'd need them to beat all your men anyway."  
  
"Confident too, the fiercest fires die the quickest boy. You'd best remember that advice. Be here, tomorrow night, at twelve. You can bring your guns, but you will not need them. I'll take care of that car of yours. It belonged to Mao Sheng's son. I will have it returned, it will do a lot to help you in their eyes if it is returned. I take the vehicle has not been damaged?"  
  
"Those guys that we fought. They weren't Jade Dragon were they?" asked the boy as he ignored that line of questioning. He could give a rat's ass who the car belonged too at this point.  
  
"No, those were Black Lotus. Filthy assassins, cowards, and thugs, all of them; they control the area east of Hong Kong. They kidnapped my daughter in an attempt to persuade me to deal with them. I want no part of what they are into."  
  
"What's that?" asked the boy with a demonic coolness about him.   
  
"The reason you were drawn here I imagine. I'll tell you what I know when we meet tomorrow night. I imagine you'll need a day to rest. You will be safe if you remain in this area of the city tomorrow. I promise nothing more than that to you though."  
  
"I'll be going now, your men won't be able to tail me anymore. I know you're going to try and keep an eye on me anyway though."  
  
The pair parted ways and Ranma found himself standing on the sidewalk.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shu ho frowned as she overlooked Hong Kong, she was certain that the boy had come this way. He was powerful, but arrogant and pig headed. She was having serious doubts about him. He didn't seem strong enough to resist the will of the demon inside him completely. That made him dangerous. If properly trained however, he would become quite powerful, and a very strong ally.  
  
She needed to consult someone in the city, and would no doubt cross paths with him at least once. "I just hope I don't find him first. I've got no idea what to do about him." With her head hung down in thought she started walking towards her destination. "I knew I should have taken a bus," she grumbled as she realized she was completely filthy. It had been almost a week since her last bath.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was walking through the streets of the city with no particular destination in mind. As it was, he was in the middle of a marketplace, vendors screamed and held their wares out to the pedestrians and shoppers.   
  
He ducked out of the way as someone shoved a duck into his face and snorted.   
  
"I take it we have some purpose to be wading through such filth?" growled the demon.  
  
"Not really, we just haven't got anything better to do," said Gai.  
  
"We've got all day," agreed Amelia cheerfully. "Maybe we should take a little break and relax a bit?"  
  
"That's not a bad idea," agreed Faye. "We're not poor after all!" Faye was quite pleased with the reward they had been given. A briefcase hung from their grip as they walked through the streets. One of the thugs had handed it to them when they exited the restaurant.   
  
"We should find a place to put this," growled Gai. "This place is crawling with thieves."  
  
"I would not worry about that. Still, it could be bothersome to carry this thing. I take it what is inside is valuable?" A group of street urchins was swatted away, sending small dirty children flying in every direction. It was a common tactic for pickpockets, so everyone ignored the hostilities of the demons.  
  
"It's full of money," said Ranma. He seemed quite pleased with himself as well. He'd never even seen that much money before.  
  
"Someone should teach those poor children that stealing isn't nice," muttered Amelia with a fretful tone.   
  
"Yeah. Someone who isn't us," said Gai. "Come on. We can get a bank account!"   
  
"That's a bit of a walk," grumbled Faye.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled as he walked out of the bank and put his leg back over the bike he'd stolen. It was a nice bright red street bike with lots of power. Gai had told him all about it. It was stronger than a whole herd of horses supposedly. He didn't really see how something so small could be, but it was definitely fast. Ranma liked fast. He'd always been that way. It was a good trait to have with his style of martial arts.  
  
"Well now what?"  
  
Faye smirked. The boy was very open minded about this sort of thing. "I think we should go shopping."  
  
"No!" cried Gai in horror.  
  
"No, that comes later," grumbled the woman with a dramatic sigh. "We've just got to find Ranma a woman remember? We should pick something nice as its his first time."  
  
Gai grunted his approval in surprise.   
  
"Huh?" said Ranma in a very small voice.  
  
"But, I've never..." said Amelia quietly.   
  
"We're next, don't worry," said Faye cheerfully.   
  
"Huh?!" whimpered Ranma.   
  
"That's not what I meant! Ranma and I aren't ready for this!" cried the girl defensively.   
  
"It's not that big a deal, trust me. You're not losing anything so much as gaining a new pastime. Not that we'll just pick anyone mind you. You've got to wait for the right ones to show up, and then learn how to catch them."  
  
Ranma felt his face flush incredibly red. He wasn't sure if it was him or Amelia causing it. Truthfully, it was both of them, but he jumped on the chance to lay blame elsewhere.  
  
"Are you sure?" muttered Amelia nervously. "I don't know about this..."  
  
Ranma stopped at a red light and adjusted his sunglasses. No one was looking at him, but he felt like the whole city was watching him blush. "Can we talk about this some other time?"  
  
"No. You'll always try to duck out of it this way," said Faye flatly.   
  
"I'm all for this idea. Trust me Ranma. You should be too. We're not asking them to help us find a wife after all. Just a good lay!"  
  
"You can't do that?!" cried the boy in horror. "Little boys who cheat on their wives get their heads cut off by their mothers!"  
  
"..."  
  
"What the hell?" said Gai dumbly.   
  
"Genma again," said Faye irritably.   
  
"Huh? Naw, Mom told me that a long time ago when she was mad at pop. She used to ask me why I didn't have a girlfriend yet too sometimes."  
  
"Your mother?" said Amelia in shock.  
  
"Sounds perfectly normal to me," said Sesshoumaru.   
  
"Well, that's crap. No way are we gonna let some lady cut our head off! No sir!" exclaimed Gai.   
  
"I can't kill my Mom!" cried the boy in horror.   
  
"Well, let me put it this way. What mother doesn't know, won't hurt her," replied Faye calmly. She had pulled up to a flashy looking bar. Bright neon signs proclaimed this from the windows.   
  
"An excellent place to find attractive, loose, and easy human females? How absurd. Who would want to find such a thing?" muttered Sesshoumaru in wonder.  
  
"Me," said Gai as tears of joy started to form in his eyes.  
  
"I expect we'll find a most excellent assortment of the finest stock then. This place has the taint of Yokai upon it. I imagine it will suit our needs nicely, if the demon running it wishes to allow us to use his facilities freely that is."  
  
"Darn," muttered Gai as he hung his head.  
  
"Well, so much for this place then," said Faye as she started the bike up again. The engine was just as quickly flicked off.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!"  
  
Amelia jumped off the bike and started walking towards the door. Ranma was helping her do it.  
  
"You guys wanted to come here. Well, we've come, and now we're going in. This is what you get for trying to corrupt us! All of you, lie, cheat, steal, and do whatever you want! I can't stand it any longer! If I don't do something heroic, I'm going to explode! Even Miss Lina did heroic things, so she could get away with all the other bad things she does!"  
  
"Can't argue with that," said Gai as he helped the forward movement. "Besides, rescuing a bunch of naked girls will probably do Ranma some good."  
  
The boy tried to reverse their course, only Faye was helping him, and the rest of the group overpowered them. "Naked girls? As in more than one?"  
  
"Lots probably," said Gai with a short nod.  
  
"I see no point to stop here. However, the demonic force within is not very strong. It should not be much trouble to remove it if need be."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Thirty pairs of naked breast stood waiting inside the lobby of the building. It was a large traditional looking structure. It was a gigantic mansion in one of the more upscale areas of town. It looked somewhat out of place within the modern architecture. Inside was a small reception desk, with rows of women sitting on cushions in an adjoining room.   
  
"Hello, how may we serve you this day?" asked the attractive receptionist.   
  
"I wish to speak with your master, is he available?" said the boy calmly. His features had gone quite cold instantly.   
  
The woman standing behind the desk smiled at him. "He will see you. At the moment he is unavailable, and invites you to enjoy yourself. He will see you when you are finished."  
  
Sesshoumaru merely smirked at her. "I'll wait thank you." He calmly strolled over to the corner and stood within view of the waiting prostitutes.   
  
They all giggled and whispered things to each other as they watched him.  
  
"Wha? I thought you had permission!" cried Gai.  
  
"What gives?" snorted Faye. "Getting cold feet?"  
  
"I told you of the taint on this place, it is better to be cautious. We will speak with the master of this place, and then decide our course of action. I assure you, his schedule is quite clear. There is nothing of significant power to distract him from us around here."  
  
Ranma was quite relieved that his pants hid erections so well. He was also relieved that something had shown up to delay their plans for him.   
  
"I suspect you have something to ask me?" said the woman as she frowned at them.   
  
"Not particularly," said the boy as he glanced at her. "I said I wanted to see your master and I meant it. You're not the one I'm looking for."  
  
The woman nodded, her scowl never left her face. "You may regret that. He does not like visitors." Her eyes had changed into catlike slits.  
  
"He will make time enough to see us. I wish to have an explanation for this place. To be left alone with so little power on this place, there is little doubt he is here to serve some service to others of his kind. I suggest you tell him quickly, as I am not patient. Tell him, that I, Ranma Saotome, would speak with him."  
  
"Maybe we should stop letting Fluffy talk," growled Faye.  
  
"I've got it under control," replied Ranma. The woman gasped as she realized what their hand was doing. It had a sickly green glow around it and his fingers were flexed like claws.   
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Wow," muttered Amelia in a sort of horrified wonder. It was powerful magic, bad magic. She'd never seen such a force coming from what appeared to be her own hand. She wanted very badly for it to go away.  
  
"What? That..." The woman creature backed away slowly in an animalistic way. The boy was using Yokai magic, very powerful Yokai magic. "As you wish," she replied as she bowed deeply and scurried away.  
  
Ranma found himself blinking as he let the power die down and glanced at the frightened naked girls beside him. They all cowered away from him, but none had dared to run. The strangest thing had just happened; the woman from the counter had turned into a rather cute looking demon monster. She had changed from a very attractive Chinese woman, and into a cute looking demonic thing. It looked like a young girl, except for two tiny horns, two small bat-like wings, and a pointed tail. Her hair had actually changed into an almost blood red from black. She glanced back at them and growled as she vanished through a door.   
  
  
  
"What the hell was that about?" asked Ranma dumbly.   
  
"I dunno," said Gai in confusion. "Say. Those chicks are lookin at us funny now."  
  
The prostitutes had actually started scaling the walls around them with evil leers on their faces. Fangs had grown out over their lips as they all hissed and screeched angrily. The front door slammed shut quite suddenly and all the lights outside went out, with the exception of a small sign that now hung in the window. "Sorry. We'll be back to serve you in a few minutes!"  
  
"Shit," growled Ranma. "What the hell is this?"  
  
"I am not sure, they appear as human souls, but those bodies are not human. I fear we may have stumbled onto something more than I originally anticipated."  
  
"So we get the heck out of here?" cried Amelia nervously.  
  
They were still standing calmly, watching the women crawl around the room on all fours. Every muscle in their body appeared strained now as they moved about, small claws had grown from their fingernails and toes as well. It was anything but attractive to watch.   
  
  
  
"Heck no! I said I wanted to see that guy, and I'm gonna see him!" snarled Ranma as his hands flew behind his back. He produced both pistols and the women on the walls all froze in place, they looked quite nervous suddenly.   
  
"I don't think this is a guy we're going to see," said Gai. "It's another monster, you know, like the one that almost killed us!"  
  
"We're much stronger now," was the boy's simple reply. "I got no idea what this is about, but I already know I won't like it when I find out."  
  
"I suggest we attack then, our captors are growing brave. Not that it will last." Sesshoumaru leveled the handguns forward at one of the creatures. "I am not certain of how this weapon operates."  
  
"Pull, the trigger," replied Gai as he demonstrated.   
  
Everything in the room froze as both weapons reported. Two bullet-sized balls of energy shot out of the barrels at the same velocity as a normal shot. They left tracer like trails of light behind the shots, one was a fire like orange, and the other was a pale blue.   
  
The creature took both rounds in the chest and flew back roaring painfully as it stopped moving quite suddenly.   
  
The creatures around them screamed angrily as they charged forward all at once towards him.  
  
The boy holstered the red weapon and pulled his staff off of his back. He spun it skillfully around his arm and knocked three of them back before thrusting it forward and driving another four back into the wall. He twirled the weapon around his finger and fired two shots over his back, sending both of the monsters behind him crashing to the ground as they jerked violently. The bodies of the monsters on the floor quickly began to dissolve into a bubbling pile of pink and red goo.  
  
The creatures were relentless and single minded.   
  
"The things I go through to get laid!" cried Gai angrily as he belted two more of the monsters upside their heads with the staff.  
  
"Not bad man," said Ranma approvingly.  
  
"We should end this," said Sesshoumaru as he used the butt of the firearm to knock away one of the things as it tried to latch onto his shoulder. He fired at another and sent it to the ground.  
  
Ranma swept the staff up quickly and caught the jaw of another monster, sending it flying into a group of others. He put both weapons away and stood in a combat ready stance. "Come on. I don't want to be here all day."  
  
"It is time to teach how to use the attack I just taught you boy." The demon made their lips turn up ever so slightly, and the remaining twenty or so monsters jumped back slightly. His fist began to glow with a sickly green light once again.  
  
"Ranma. We shouldn't use that attack..." said Amelia nervously. "I don't like the way it feels."  
  
"Got a better idea?" he asked quickly. None of the monsters had yet grown brave enough to do more than lunge forward threateningly.   
  
"I've got spells that will stop these things," she said firmly.  
  
"No time to decide boy! Act now!" snarled Sesshoumaru forcefully as he drove them forward.   
  
Ranma charged with him and slashed his fingers as he jumped through the scattering demon women. They seemed to pass through whatever he struck unharmed and he stopped on the other side of the crowd unharmed. Each and every one of the remaining prostitute demons squirted blood from a small wound as they fell to the ground screaming. In an instant they began to melt away as the toxins of Sesshoumaru's magic took effect.   
  
"Cool," said the boy in wonder.  
  
"Gross!" cried Faye in disgust.  
  
"Well, we killed them, so now what?" grumbled Gai. He wasn't expecting to be attacked by the beautiful women he was rescuing.  
  
"Now, we follow that little demon's trail. Stay on guard, this place is probably swarming with the creatures we just defeated. They stand no chance against Sesshoumaru's power. We are not far from achieving most of my power." He flexed his fingers experimentally for a moment and strolled forward towards the door the demoness had gone through.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The little demoness gasped for breath as she rushed through the massive doors of the inner temple within the mansion. "Master!"  
  
A withered looking spindly demon slowly turned to glare at her angrily. His gigantic wings spread wide as he turned his rage onto her. The pathetic creature suffered on the ground in agony. "I told you never to disturb me Sai. Now you learn the price for disobedience."  
  
He did nothing but watch her suffer coldly with a deep frown on his face for almost ten minutes.   
  
"Now, what is it that is so important that you forgot to obey my command Sai?"  
  
"Someone has come to see the master. Someone too strong for Sai to stop!" cried the demon fearfully. She didn't seem to bothered by the torment she had just received, but obviously feared another incident. "Sai didn't know what to do, so she came to warn the master!"  
  
The creature stomped over to her. It was almost nine feet tall and plucked her off of the ground in its claws. The hooked talons on his fingers easily penetrated her skin as she was lifted into the air and thrown back at the door. "Go and stop him then. I won't be bothered with such filth."  
  
The little demon nodded her head and got a firm look in her eyes. She stood up as the Chinese woman again, but two jet-black wings protruded from her back now. She was also wearing a very tight leather miniskirt. "As the master commands then." She walked back into the doors and strolled boldly into two handguns as she opened the door to leave.   
  
"Damn it," she muttered as she flew back as both weapons reported, one of her wings fell onto the ground and she did not move again.  
  
Ranma Saotome walked into the room with a deep frown on his face. "You're sick!" he cried as he pointed at the demon. He wasn't happy with his trip through the palace. After he'd gotten about halfway up the building with no trouble, the women actually started ripping their limbs off and putting them back onto different places. It was slightly more difficult to deal with, but not by much. He just had to adjust his aim a bit more often when going for a headshot. That had become especially difficult for them when they started shoving their necks into their crotches.   
  
"Hello," said the demon as he ignored his fallen servant and glared at them. "You did not enjoy my wonderful pleasures? Anything a man can want, all he has to do is ask, anything at all. I can fulfill any fantasy, no matter how dark, for a price. "I do nothing more than that. Why are you here to bother me about this?"  
  
The boy chuckled as he strolled forward. He was twirling the handguns around his fingers lazily as he walked. "All these human souls? Surely you don't expect me to believe they willingly submitted to you?"  
  
"Such is the price of pleasure," responded the demon coolly. "I am merely the keeper of this cursed place."  
  
The boy looked around at the temple he was standing in. That was indeed what it was after all. "Defiling a temple, by turning it into a whorehouse?"  
  
"Of course, it had become particularly bothersome a few hundred years ago. So we bought it, and made good use of it. We are quite successful, as business is thriving."  
  
"This is a soul well then," said Sesshoumaru coolly.   
  
The demon narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Who are you? How would you know of such things? I sense the power of a demon within you, but it is unfamiliar to me, that is strange indeed."  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome," replied the boy with a cocky looking grin. "What's a soul well?" he asked the demon in confusion.  
  
"It is a place to hold souls for demons to feed on. They are not taken by means of judgement either. This place would be well hidden from any servant of the light. It is one of the reasons hunting demons is so pointless."  
  
"Pointless?!" cried Faye in horror. "Are you nuts?"  
  
"Taking people's souls? We've got to stop it!" agreed Amelia.   
  
"I'm all for that," said Gai as he readied the handguns.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shu ho frowned as she sat across from an old woman on the outskirts of town. It was a small temple that was nestled in the back of a traditional home. "I do not know what to make of him."  
  
The old woman calmly poured tea as she glanced over at the girl. "You were wise to seek guidance then. I do not know how much help I can be though."  
  
"He was young, only about sixteen or seventeen by the look of him," said the girl as she gripped her cup a little tighter. "He's got no self control that I've seen, but he did kill that demon. He did it using power I know a demon can't use."  
  
"Most unusual indeed. You saw him as a demon though?"  
  
"That's what bothers me. I've never seen anything like that before, it shouldn't even be possible."  
  
"Troublesome, but perhaps not as much as we had thought. I am not gifted with the sight, but I have no ill feelings about this."  
  
"I just don't..." She paused as a bright blue light flashed in the city. It was bright enough to see even in the middle of the day as smaller balls of light shot into the sky from out of a gigantic pillar.  
  
"You see something child?" asked the old woman with a smirk on her face.  
  
"That light?"  
  
"That light, is a wondrous thing indeed. It is a pity only those like us may see it."  
  
"What?" asked the young woman in confusion.   
  
"I think this boy, may be something we have awaited for many centuries my child. That light was something I had not even begun to hope I might see in my lifetime."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Freed souls, more than any demon hunter has seen in centuries I imagine. Probably more than you've seen in your entire career."  
  
The woman blushed slightly at this and turned back towards the old woman again. "I guess that settles it then, we've got to send word to Cologne to back off."  
  
"That would seem wise, but I fear her pride will not make that will be an easy task for you."  
  
The woman simply nodded and put her tea down. "Thank you."  
  
"Any time Child. You come visit your old Auntie Lather any time you wish."  
  
"Yes," she replied with a small blush. It had been some time since she last spoke with the old woman. She owed the old woman quite a bit of gratitude for some of the things she'd done for her. Her training was a good example of that. While not directly involved, she had known whom to speak too about it. She still wasn't sure of the relationship the woman had with her mother.  
  
"I should be going now, I've still got to find him," she bowed and rushed away.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
It wasn't that big a deal really. All he had to do was beat the snot out of the demon standing in front of him. Sesshoumaru had explained the particulars of what he was standing in. He had looked into some of the magic and seemed surprised, if only slightly by what he had discovered. It was a net for souls it captured those freed from demons by demon hunters and held them on earth until they could be weakened enough to drag to hell.   
  
The monster looming over him angrily hissed as his wings spread wide. "You fool. You cannot defeat me here! This place was created to destroy your kind should they be fool enough to enter! Why do you think it has not fallen in thousands of years?"  
  
"You've kept it well hidden, unfortunately, your lapse in security will cost you." The boy calmly loaded a clip into both weapons and spun them around his fingers.  
  
"Wait. You mean we haven't been using bullets?" asked Gai dumbly. He had apparently just realized they hadn't reloaded the weapons yet.   
  
"It is a bit weird," grumbled Faye. "I'd almost forgotten myself a few times back there." She had been counting shots out of habit and had finally given up at around nine hundred.   
  
The monster stomped in a circle around them as they paced into the room and kept themselves facing it.  
  
"This should pose no problems for us. He is old and weak. His service to others is the only reason he is allowed to exist. We need stronger opponents if we are to better ourselves. We should be on the lookout for something that can suit our needs."  
  
The demon roared and lunged forward. Ranma merely chuckled as a blaze of flame formed around his body just before he pulled the trigger. A massive cannon shot of fire roared out of the end of the weapon.   
  
The demon screamed as it slammed into its face as the boy spun around to avoid the claws that landed where he was standing. Before he even turned completely around he fired the sister weapon into the monster's mouth just behind the back of his head by resting the weapon on his shoulder. The same effect was repeated, but with blue energy this time.  
  
The demon's head exploded in a rather spectacular display that rained down pieces and chunks of skull and brain all around them. The boy was untouched by the mess though and calmly stepped over the monster's body. He fired two more of the shots into the defiled temple and twirled his weapons around his fingers as he turned away from the resulting explosion. Flames raced up the walls as he calmly walked through the massive temple doors and into the hallway. A blast of blue light tore through the rooftop and sent a shockwave of power into the stairwell. The boy didn't seem bothered by any of this as he continued his path towards the exit.  
  
  
  
"Wow! That was cool!" cried Gai as he realized he wasn't dead.   
  
He paused as he found himself surrounded by ghostly images of beautiful women. Hundreds of them were all around them, all smiling at him warmly.   
  
Sesshoumaru growled and tried to ready themselves for a fight.  
  
"They don't look angry or nothin," said Ranma as he forced the demon to calm the body a bit.   
  
One of the ghostly spirits spoke to him. "Thank you. You cannot understand what you have saved us from." She bowed deeply and smiled at him again. Most of the spirits appeared to be crying. There were men appearing around them as well. All of them looked young and healthy as they stood around the pigtailed boy and bowed.   
  
Finally, one of the ghostly women rushed forward and planted her lips right on his face. A few others decided to join her and Ranma staggered back as happy female ghosts passed through his body towards the pillar of light. He felt light headed and stumbled about a bit. It was an immensely pleasurable feeling they gave him when they passed.  
  
They all just stumbled back onto the stairwell and ended up sitting on the stairs as the ghosts all finally passed. He blinked and found himself alone in the palace. "Woah."  
  
"Is it just me, or did we just get gang raped by fifty dead women?" muttered Faye.  
  
"They were just thanking us!" snapped Amelia. "I'm sure it wasn't anything like that at all!"  
  
"Actually, it felt a lot like it," muttered Gai. "I'm not sure about that though, so don't go getting no ideas about this counting or anything."  
  
"It was definitely a strange feeling," grumbled the demon irritably.   
  
"You're one of those dogs that pretends he doesn't like getting his ear scratched aren't you?" said Faye in a teasing tone.  
  
"Don't speak to me as if I was some pet. I'll make you regret those words woman."  
  
"Do ghosts get pregnant? Cause if they do, it was all Ranma. I had nothing to do with it," said Gai as they finally stood up.  
  
"HUH?" cried the boy fearfully.  
  
"He was kidding," said Faye.  
  
"We should get moving. The power of our other shot should be catching up to us soon."  
  
"It is starting to get a bit smoky in here," said Gai. "Wait. Smoke? The building is on fire and we're just standing here?"  
  
Almost in answer to that a huge chunk of flaming debris crashed through the ceiling above them just as they started dashing down the stairs towards the exit. Luckily, it was only a five-story building.  
  
As they rushed down the stairwell another giant timber crashed down in front of them.  
  
"Shit!" cried Faye as they turned to look back up. A thick cloud of smoke was quickly making its way down to them.  
  
"The wall," growled Sesshoumaru.  
  
A simple swiping motion with their hand ripped a huge gash into the side of the building and they dove out the side of the building as a ball of flames rushed down towards them. The cursed temple was attempting to take them with it.   
  
As they flew across the street in the air the building shattered into a massive ball of contained fire. None of the nearby buildings were effected by the mysterious blast. They found themselves clinging to the side of the building across the street precariously from one of the windowpanes.   
  
"That was interesting," said Ranma nervously.  
  
"How do we get down?" cried Amelia.  
  
"We go up. Climbing to the roof should pose no problem," Sesshoumaru ran his eyes along what looked like a way to climb up the side of the building from where they were. It would be fairly easy to do along the pipes and ledges on the building's side.   
  
Ranma looked at the burning building from the top of the six-story apartment building with a deep frown on his face. The fight was his, but he was just starting to realize what the change had done to him. "I am, Ronin." He would return home, but only to break his ties. He could not stop moving, or everything he feared would catch up to him and destroy him completely.  
  
"What?" asked Faye in confusion as they all watched the fire below.   
  
"I'm ronin. A wanderer, I'll never have a home to call my own, at least not for a very long time. Sort of like before, but now I can't go back. At least, not to stay anyway."  
  
"I'm glad to see you are beginning to understand boy," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Yeah. I don't like being here," grumbled Ranma. "At least at home I'll be able to relax a little bit."   
  
None of them saw the tiny shadow hiding in the darkness just behind them. It did nothing but watch them carefully from the darkness, with two bat-like wings poking from its back. One of the wings looked somewhat ragged and pathetic compared to the other one." The master...will not be pleased with failure. Sai does not like failure. Sai must be punished by the master." Her eyes stared at the one who had come and destroyed the master.   
  
"Sai..." Tears of rage began to form in her eyes as she snarled at him viciously. "Sai...must be punished." She spread her wings as she stood up tall and glared at him. "Who will punish Sai?" She was confused and afraid. It was the first time in her existence she was really alone. She glared at the boy as he watched her master's magnificent designs burn. How dare he have such insolence as to destroy such a thing? She would...what? She couldn't kill him, that much was certain. "Sai is very angry. What should Sai do? Sai must serve the master."  
  
"Hey!" snapped Ranma as he turned around while she was thinking. She was standing in plain sight and gasped as she realized she'd been spotted.  
  
  
  
"Uh oh," she muttered as she hung her head. "I guess Sai is destroyed then."  
  
"I remember you! You tried to trick me!" snapped the angry boy as he pulled his weapons out and frowned at her. It was clear he was expecting a fight.  
  
"Go ahead and destroy Sai. She will be destroyed anyway," she responded quietly as she sat down and pouted angrily.   
  
"Huh?" it was clearly something the boy wasn't expecting.  
  
"This thing doesn't have a will of its own. It was created to serve the demon within the temple." Sesshoumaru seemed quite uninterested in the whole affair. "It is best to kill her now. If we do not, the stronger demons will do it for us later. It matters not. If you wish to waste some of your power to be merciful, I will not stop you. Nor will I aid you."  
  
"What?" cried Ranma as he lowered his weapon slightly. "But..."  
  
"She will die either way," insisted the demon. "It is better to leave her here."  
  
The little demoness was watching the boy in front of her nervously. She appeared to be having second thoughts about letting him kill her. "Please do it quickly before Sai loses her nerve. She would rather be killed quickly by you, than be found by the others."  
  
"You're a pitiful servant, you should have died before your master," snorted Sesshoumaru coldly.   
  
Sai flinched at the tone; it was almost familiar to her. She got an odd look on her face as she peered at him.  
  
"Why is she alive? I thought we shot her," asked Faye in confusion.  
  
"We shot her in the shoulder and the wing remember?" said Gai. "I thought she bit it when the temple went really."  
  
"She's like us now though. Those things are after her," muttered Ranma as conflict started to form within him.  
  
"She is the personal servant of a demon we destroyed. She cannot be trusted."  
  
Finally the demon girl backed away fearfully from him as she hid behind a nearby wall. "Sai does not know how to ask..."  
  
"What? Where do you think you're goin?!" snapped the pigtailed boy as he noticed her hiding. "I ain't sure about you yet."  
  
This seemed to put a bit more into the demon girl and she poked her head out a bit more. "Sai was wondering, if you would let her be your servant. Then you can trust her. Sai's old master is gone, her bond is broken."  
  
Sesshoumaru turned them away from her. "Bond? You wish to bond with me?" His tone had changed, and become very sinister quite suddenly.  
  
"Yes. Sai must have a master, or Sai has no purpose. If Sai is bonded to you, she must do everything you command of her. She cannot resist you master!"  
  
"What?" asked Gai. This was suddenly a bit interesting. "That sounds good."  
  
"Pervert!" snapped Faye angrily.  
  
"That's not a very nice thing to say Mr. Yamada! We don't need a slave like that!"  
  
"I didn't mean it like that!" cried the man irritably. "Jeez."  
  
Ranma ignored all of this and spoke to Fluffy. "Is she lying?"  
  
The demon snorted in amusement. "No. She speaks the truth. She will not be able to disobey us if we allow this bond. I recommend it in fact. She may be useful, even if she is pathetic and weak."  
  
"We might be able to get some useful information out of her," agreed Faye.   
  
"She would have to tell us anything she knows. All we must do is ask," agreed Sesshoumaru. "I have not had a pet in some time. This one will probably live a bit longer than the others. I've never taken the time to fashion my own servant. This one is quite extraordinary, especially if it has survived without a master for even this long. I'm sure, I, Sesshoumaru, would do better of course."  
  
"How do we do this?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Simple, you must follow my instruction again. It should not take more than a few moments. Especially since she offered this to us."  
  
"Anyone else get the feeling things are going a little too well?" asked Gai.  
  
"I don't know if this is such a good idea Ranma," said Amelia cautiously. "I mean, it's hard enough controlling one demon."  
  
"She's like a slave right?" asked the boy.  
  
"Yes. She can not willingly disobey our commands," said the demon.  
  
"Let's do it then," said the boy firmly.   
  
He glanced down at the demon girl and smirked at her. "All right. I'll let you bond with me. Doesn't feel right to just leave ya here this way."  
  
The little demon looked quite surprised to hear this and bowed deeply. "Thank you master! Sai swears that she will serve your every need for eternity! She expects to be firmly punished for a very long time for attacking you in such a cowardly way!"  
  
"Are we sure about this?" asked Faye nervously. She didn't fail to notice the demon girl's cleavage push forward a bit as she begged and bowed before them.   
  
"Not really, no," said Ranma as he held his hand out over her.  
  
She smiled and jumped up to her feet, chomping her teeth firmly into the side of his hand. A bit of blood flowed from between his fingers as his face ignored the pain.   
  
"Mine," said Fluffy.  
  
"I don't think so," growled Ranma as he suddenly cut the demon off just as something started to happen.  
  
"No!" cried the demon as he found himself unable to stop it as Ranma Saotome became bonded with the little demoness. "You!"  
  
"Heck. Even I ain't that stupid," said the boy as he shook off his hand after she had released him. "I ain't givin you no help out here. You're stuck, and I like it that way for now. I ain't lettin you out till you start behavin."  
  
The demon girl looked quite cheerful and didn't really care what he was saying. "What does Sai do for the master now?" she asked him cheerfully.  
  
"Huh? I dunno," replied the boy. "I guess you can go now. You're safe right?"  
  
The demoness got a blank look on her face. "Master? Sai is very sorry, and perhaps she is not used to your diction yet. She does not understand your instruction."  
  
"Ranma. You dope. She has to come with us if she's our servant," growled Amelia. "I told you not to do this."  
  
"Servant?" muttered the boy dumbly. "We just did that bonded thing right?"  
  
Sai stood patiently while her master seemed to think about something. He seemed to be much slower at it than her older master. She would not dare voice such an observation though.  
  
"What?!" cried her master suddenly.  
  
"Congratulations on your new pet Ranma," said Faye lazily. "I've got to say, you're definitely the first person I've ever met with their own pet demon."  
  
"This pathetic creature is no demon. She is merely a servant, created to obey without question" growled Sesshoumaru.  
  
"So, I gotta keep her?" said the boy in confusion.  
  
"Yeah. You gotta keep her," said Gai cheerfully. "Maybe she can bring us a beer or something?"  
  
"Should we go Master? Do you have a lair?" asked Sai quietly. She seemed confused by him so far.  
  
"I guess we should go to the hotel or somethin," grumbled Ranma. "We got that meeting later anyway."  
  
  
  
"Sai will follow then," said the demon girl cheerfully. She turned and started walking after them as they started to make their way off the rooftop.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
It was early still; they had about four hours before they had to meet with the Triad boss again. As such, Ranma Saotome sat in his room with the demon girl he'd picked up a little over an hour ago. She was kneeling on the floor in the corner quietly waiting for a command from him.   
  
The boy was laid out on the bed with his arms spread out as he stared at the ceiling. The little demon was trying her best to look miserable and it was driving him nuts. He looked up at her as she tried to push herself into the corner. She was quite dirty and pathetic looking at the moment.  
  
"What's with you?" he asked her as he hopped off the bed and came to rest on the top of the back of a chair. He was having trouble sitting still while she was brooding.  
  
"Sai is wondering when she is going to be punished for failure," muttered the demon quietly. "She failed, and must be punished."  
  
"What? I ain't punishing you," he grumbled as he frowned at her.  
  
The demoness gasped in shock. "But...but...Sai must be punished!"  
  
"No!" snapped the angry looking boy as he turned his head away from her. "What the heck are you doing in the corner anyway? Go sit in a chair or something."  
  
This absolutely horrified the demon girl. "Master? Sai is to sit...in a chair?"  
  
"Yeah," said the boy in confusion. He had no idea it was a bad thing apparently.   
  
"Shall Sai sit on her tail uncomfortably?" she inquired hopefully.  
  
"If you want...I guess," said the boy. She sulked off her spot on the wall and gently laid out her tail on a nearby chair. With a small jump she heaved her entire bodyweight on top of it.  
  
"This is too weird," grumbled Ranma as he shook his head. Finally, he turned towards the bathroom. "I guess we can take a shower while we're here." The women had started to complain about the smell since they had gotten back, but he'd been more interested in keeping an eye on Sai. Fluffy seemed quite irritated with the boy, but kept telling him that the creature could not disobey them.  
  
"Why does she look like that still? I thought she could look like that older chick too?" He put a towel over his shoulder and walked towards the bathroom.   
  
Sai watched this from her chair and seemed utterly confused by it. "Is the master going out?"  
  
"No, the master is going to take a shower," grumbled the boy as he pushed the door open.  
  
Sai craned her neck to see, the room was a dead end with no other exit. She'd never really given much thought to such a room before. She'd seen them of course, but most demons ignored rooms like those. She had no idea what humans needed so many different water sources in one room for.   
  
Her master seemed to know though. She looked down at the chair and then back at the door again. Her master had yet to give her specific instructions about anything. She hopped off and walked carefully over to the door of the bathroom. It was closed, but not locked.   
  
She opened it and peered carefully inside. Steam filled the room now as her master stood behind a curtain in a stream of hot water. "Sai is confused." She walked into the room leaving the door wide open and stood watching him for a long time as he bathed. "What is the master doing? What is the purpose of this?" She would probably be punished for asking such questions. Still, a punishment would be something. He'd had her for a few hours already and had yet to do anything with her at all. Her old master had started giving her commands as soon as she opened her eyes.   
  
The boy was staring at her from the other side of the curtain. "Humans need to keep themselves clean to keep the odor down to a bearable level. He opened it calmly and stepped out in the nude while drying his hair.   
  
He looked like he wanted to jump back behind the curtain and hide again for the briefest of moments.   
  
"Sai's master is not human though," pointed out the little creature cheerfully. "Sai could not become bonded with him if he was."  
  
"That is only partially true," responded the pigtailed boy as he calmly dried his hair.  
  
"Oh," said the demon girl. She didn't know a whole lot about that sort of thing. The bond was there though, if only she could get him to command her now. "If the master doesn't have a command for Sai, what should she do?"  
  
"I dunno, relax a bit? I ain't got nuthin for ya ta do anyway." He shrugged as he seemed to realize she was neither bothered, nor interested in his nudity much.   
  
"Sai...relax?" The words sounded so wrong to her. She simply stared at the floor. "How does Sai relax?"  
  
Ranma glanced down at her for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Sai does not know how to relax. Sai only knows how to serve the master."  
  
"This is getting repetitive," grumbled Gai.  
  
Ranma ignored him and tied the towel around his waist. "How the heck would I know? Look...I ain't got nothin for ya ta do. What kind of stuff did ya do before?"  
  
"Sai carried out the masters commands! She was told to keep the store running and tempt any who entered with whatever they desired. Sai was to make sure the customers were pleasured enough to sell their souls to the master. She was also in charge of making sure the Well was kept up. She had to perform rituals for the master to keep the spell strong. Sai usually sacrificed a few customers. She was also in charge of training new souls for an eternity of misery and slavery to the dark master."  
  
"What did you do when you weren't doing that?" asked Ranma.   
  
"Sai was punished," said the demon. The look on her face told him that she thought he should be punishing her quite harshly.  
  
The boy hit his head on the wall a few times. "Anything else?"  
  
"Oh! Sometimes Sai would pleasure the master!" She seemed quite proud to remember that. "Not for a very long time though. The master does not care for pleasure much."  
  
"What the heck does that mean?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"With that thing? Eeew!" cried Faye in horror.  
  
Amelia looked quite sick. "I'm so glad we have rescued her from such a horrible..."  
  
"Did she like it?" asked Gai.  
  
"I dunno, let's ask her," said Ranma. It was quite obvious he had no idea what anyone was talking about. "What kind of stuff do you do for fun? What about this pleasure thing?"  
  
Sai stared up at the boy for a moment in shock. "Sai cannot feel pleasure! Sai is to suffer!" She paused for a moment. "Pleasuring the master is not bad, but she does not enjoy it. No, Sai does not enjoy pleasuring the master. He is very rough, and Sai is very delicate. She was intended that way." She nodded to herself and seemed quite proud of that fact.   
  
"What? He hit you?"  
  
"Would you like to hit Sai?" asked the demon hopefully. Her tail started wagging in anticipation of the punishment.   
  
"Not really no," said the boy flatly.  
  
"Oh." The demon was running out of options. If something didn't happen soon she would have to relax with no punishment. "Shall Sai pleasure the master then?"  
  
"What the heck does that mean?" inquired the boy again.  
  
The girl seemed to think about it for a very long time. She'd never been asked to explain so much before. It was getting frustrating, and her new master was incredibly stupid to not grasp such simple concepts. He was the strangest demon she'd ever met.   
  
In the back of Ranma's mind. Faye had enlisted Gai's help in explaining things to the boy in as simple a manner as possible. The man was quite happy to help with a simple explanation of what the little demon meant.  
  
"What?" cried the boy in horror.  
  
The cute little demon was looking at him. He seemed upset by her question. She repeated it, hoping to be punished for insolence. "Would the master like Sai to pleasure him?"  
  
The towel-clad boy was frozen in place with a shocked look about him.  
  
"Just get it over with." The boy's face had taken on a rather serious looking frown. Her master had quickly shifting moods, and it was the most evil she'd seen him look so far.  
  
Sai simply shrugged and pulled his towel off his waist before falling to her knees. As she was unable to speak very quickly after that occurred she thought to herself as she worked. "I hope the master is displeased with Sai's performance and punishes her harshly for not being good enough for him. That was how things usually went after all.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Housetraining. 


	5. Insertion RE 5

Insertion: Reflux   
  
Part 5  
  
The Hong Kong job.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome was naked under the sheets of his bed. He was still in the hotel room and had a little over an hour and a half to make it to his meeting. It was roughly five blocks away. He wasn't in any hurry to move.   
  
Sai was curled up on top of his chest with an absolutely petrified look on her face. It had been horrible, the most awful thing imaginable had happened to her. She had loved it. Surely, she would be punished for centuries. She so wanted to stay quiet, but the master must know of it.   
  
"Master, Sai is sorry."  
  
"Huh?" said the boy as he glanced down at the top of her head. He wasn't really all there at that moment.   
  
"She did not mean too, but she had fun," she rolled onto her knees and looked at him with the biggest saddest eyes he'd ever seen.   
  
  
  
"It's okay," he muttered sleepily.   
  
"But...what shall Sai's punishment be?" She glanced away from him fearfully and shivered.   
  
The boy was simply looking at her in absolute confusion. "Um, do that pleasure thing again? Try not to enjoy it so much this time?"   
  
"Very well Master," said Sai as her voice changed. Her form had changed and she appeared as a very attractive Chinese woman. She still wasn't clothed and reached under the sheets slowly.  
  
"Ranma!" cried Amelia in shock.   
  
"What happened?" asked Gai. His brain wasn't working entirely at the moment. "Great idea kid."  
  
Sesshoumaru was relatively indifferent, but remained mostly silent during the events following the bathroom incident. Ranma was so petrified that Gai had actually had to ask Sai to take them to the bed. He did speak up to answer the question. "Sai is a servant. I believe she is only permitted to use her current form when following his commands. She seems unaware of our condition and will follow any instruction given to her. However, only Ranma may command this form." He chuckled at the surprised gasps the two women gave. "An interesting way to discover this isn't it?"  
  
"I feel weird," grumbled Amelia.  
  
Faye seemed to be enjoying herself. "Ooh. I like it when she does that though."   
  
"What!?" cried the girl uncomfortably. She had passed out at first, but it was pretty much out of her system now. She had little choice but to ride it out, and though she wouldn't admit it, it wasn't really a bad feeling. "It's a demon! She's not even human!"  
  
"Close enough!" grumbled Guy.   
  
"Hello? Ranma? Anyone there?" chimed Faye. "Are you having fun?"  
  
"I'm busy," he grumbled irritably.  
  
"Right," she said cheerfully. "This is nice, but our way is better."  
  
"Even I am not aware of that experience. Odd that you are able to have anything over me," commented Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Jerk," growled Faye.  
  
"Look, unless the two of you want running commentary while you do your business, shut the hell up," growled Gai. "I feel like I'm bein videotaped!"  
  
Sai was trying her best to look pathetic and unhappy, but she was failing miserably.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood in front of the full-length mirror on the door and buttoned up a blue Hawaiian shirt as he put his sunglasses on. Sai was standing behind him in her cute demon form again. She looked worried and pensive, but was now wearing her tight leather dress. She didn't look particularly winded or ruffled by the last hour or so of activity. Ranma was relatively fresh looking himself as he glanced back at her. His gaze was particularly glassy though, the original occupant hadn't said much of anything. The rest of him was functioning actively and normally.  
  
"Sai is sorry she failed master, what shall she do to herself while we're out?" she shuffled her feet pathetically.   
  
Ranma sighed and stared at her for a moment. "You can't come. I've got to meet other people, they won't like someone else around."  
  
"Sai must remain with the master. She is not safe without him near. Sai knows to remain hidden, she is very good at it."  
  
"She cannot venture far from our side without specific instruction," said Sesshoumaru. "She is correct, it would be dangerous for her if we left her here alone. She will present her uses, the bond is more than just obeying commands. You may use her eyes if you wish, or her ears. If you focus enough, you will be able to control her completely if you desire to do so. Commands do not always have to be verbal ones either. As she is bonded to you, only you may use this power."  
  
"You were going to try and take off with her body weren't you?" snarled Faye.   
  
"Yes. What of it?" replied the demon coldly. "I would have been merciful in killing you. It wouldn't have taken me more than a year or so to do it."  
  
"You'd have met the business end of those guns if you'd tried," replied Ranma calmly. He put his hand up in front of their face and smirked as a green glow formed around his fingers. "May not be much, but I remember that stuff you've been teachin me real good. Sooner or later, we won't need you around anymore."  
  
The demon growled angrily. "Your power is pathetic compared to my own. Don't even begin to imagine you might ever become as strong as I. It is laughably pathetic to even begin to imagine you could match Sesshoumaru's power." His voice changed quickly into a sort of amused arrogance.   
  
"I know enough about this attack to realize that if I can use it, you can't use it against me," replied the boy calmly. "I may not be smart, but I ain't stupid. If you try anything like that, I'm gonna kick your ass Fluffy."  
  
"You would fail miserably," growled Sesshoumaru.  
  
"What are we going to do about her? We're gonna be late, and that's not a good idea with these people," said Faye irritably.  
  
"All right, you can come along, but you'd better stay out of trouble. I don't want any interruptions because of you," the boy's face was almost angry looking as he said this. He looked quite intimidating.  
  
She nodded fearfully. "What about Sai's punishment?"  
  
"No time for that, I'll be late," replied the boy as he opened the door to the room and stepped out into the lobby. It was late night and things were relatively quiet in the hallways of the hotel. The streets outside would not be much different.   
  
Sai sulked after him as her wings, horns, and tail vanished from sight. She appeared human at least and quietly strolled behind him. "Where are we going Master? What should Sai do when we get there?" She had been especially vocal as of late. She kept asking questions and complaining in the hopes of punishment for being so insolent. Her master appeared to be very tolerant of her, she would have to work very hard to invoke his wrath. It wasn't going very well at all.  
  
"Find a quiet place to hang out outside this place. I'm not sure how long I'll be, so stay out of trouble and don't bother anyone. Don't go anywhere either."  
  
She nodded at her instruction and sulked behind him.  
  
"Try to look normal, people will stare if you keep sulkin that way," said Ranma.   
  
"All right," she said as she stood up straight and tried to look even tempered. She didn't want to look like she was having fun, or the master might be angry.  
  
Ranma's various occupants decided that she'd received enough warning and instruction to make the trip relatively painless. They turned away and started walking outside.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome walked down the street towards his destination. He was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt yet again. It was bright yellow with green palm trees blowing in the wind printed across the torso. Sai followed behind him, appearing as nothing more than a cute girl of about the same age that was with the boy. Even if she was dressed somewhat like a prostitute from America. She was also wearing high heels, and was moving quite nimbly as she kept up with him easily. It didn't take more than a few minutes to reach their destination.  
  
They stood in front of the restaurant and he glanced around. Sai had gone missing, but somehow, Ranma knew she was right beside him still. She waved at him as she slipped away. The others could see her when she moved, but only because the light bent slightly different around her when she wasn't motionless.   
  
"Cool," muttered the boy dumbly.  
  
"She appears to be much more useful than I anticipated. We should leave her inside once we exit. Ranma, order her to do it now, before we meet them."  
  
The boy nodded and turned to look at Sai. "Sai. I want you to stay hidden like that and hang around inside for a little while. Listen in and see what you can hear after I leave the room."  
  
"Sai is to wait outside," reminded the demon.  
  
"I didn't know you could do that. Now you're coming inside."  
  
"Well, all the master has to do is ask and Sai can tell him what she can do."  
  
"Worry about it later," grumbled Faye. She strolled into the room and opened the doors. The place was empty, except for his meeting.  
  
Two old men sat at one of the tables, eating calmly and ignoring each other's presence for the most part. They glanced up at the boy who walked into the room as he frowned at them both.   
  
"Five minutes early, I win," said Li Shao.  
  
Mao Sheng frowned and grumbled something under his breath as he passed a few coins over to the man sitting across from him.   
  
"What do you want?" asked the boy simply.   
  
"To the point then," said Li Shao as his face fell slightly and he returned the money into Mao Sheng's waiting palm.   
  
"You are a demon hunter?" The man tossed the coins in his palm a few times before placing them into his pocket. Li Shao wasn't very upset by it, they had ended up even in the end after all.   
  
"Why do you care?" replied the boy. "Stop skirting around the subject. I think I've got the basic terms of this deal already. Tell me what I have to do, so that you will leave me alone."  
  
"A temple. It is a cursed place."  
  
"I suspect this involves those Black Lotus friends of yours."  
  
"Indeed it does. Occasionally, one of our kind will fall prey to the darkness. Their weaknesses force them to turn to dark paths to save themselves from their enemies, and gain domination over their allies."  
  
"And you want me to clean it up?" said the boy coolly. "I should destroy you both for such impertinence."  
  
Both men turned their heads to stare at him as he frowned at them both. They were quite surprised to hear it from him.  
  
The boy promptly punched himself in the face and shook his head. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget to stop him from talking."  
  
Both of the old men nodded and settled down in their chairs a bit. It was obvious they hadn't fully understood that.  
  
"What's this place you're telling me about?"  
  
"It is his home, a perverted place he bought after we discovered his...condition. He has defiled a temple in southern Hong Kong. It has made the streets there a very dark and dangerous place. No one ventures very far into that cursed place of tortured souls. I have heard some very serious tales of it in recent times." Mao Sheng stared at the boy calmly. "My men will kill him if he doesn't go, if he speaks the truth and is the man he says he is..."  
  
"Your men would die," responded the boy coldly.  
  
"I think you're mistaken," said Li Shao. "Even for one who hunts demons. I do feel I should warn you, the place we ask you to go, it is a very dangerous place. He may be destroyed either way. We must be prepared for that."  
  
"You'd be wrong," replied the boy as he stared the man dead in the eyes. "What am I after?"  
  
"We will be prepared for your failure. A great many people would die to contain such evil. They suffer already, it would be like ending their misery to us. You are their last hope."  
  
"A task only a legendary hunter could accomplish," agreed Mao Sheng.  
  
"You'll know where to find the temple once you reach Southern Hong Kong. My reports have told me that the farther in you go, the worse it gets."  
  
"You have forty eight hours."  
  
The boy turned his head and looked towards the south. He remained motionless for a moment. After a short time, a slight smirk formed on his face. "I'll be back in a few hours." He strolled out the doors dramatically and promptly ducked around the corner.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Sai was hanging off one of the corners on the ceiling and watching the room below as her master commanded her. The two old men were doing nothing more than eating. "How long is Sai supposed to stay for?" she wondered for a moment. Her master was still outside waiting on her. He hadn't called her yet, but if she came back without being called she would be punished, of course, she'd be punished anyway for taking so long. She felt like her life was so predictable sometimes, but her former master had been quite creative in his torments. Now her new master was downright confusing. It was awful, she had been allowed to experience pleasure, and her master hadn't even tried to punish her yet. She was growing worried, perhaps he was just saving up enough anger to destroy her completely. "Ooooh, that would be horrible," she muttered as she shivered. Neither one of the men heard her over their own eating. The two old men eating dinner was quite boring even for her.   
  
"What do you think?" asked Li Shao.  
  
"I cannot turn back. Even if he succeeds, he must be destroyed. I have already accepted the contract."  
  
"If he succeeds, what makes you think you can kill him?" asked Li Shao calmly.  
  
The man glared at him and frowned. "I will consult with the Amazons. I suspect they are as unaware as I was. It can wait until after he is finished, it will do much to the boy's credit. I should also have time to verify the contract with those women."  
  
"I suspect it is pointless to discuss at this point," snorted Mao Sheng.  
  
"Better now, than after it has already happened."  
  
"I should be leaving. I'm sure the both of us have business to attend too."  
  
"Agreed," said Mao Sheng calmly.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma squealed down the street on his bike. Traffic sped past him in either direction as he opened up the bike all the way. Everything around him was a blur of red and white light tracers.   
  
"What the hell are you doing!?" screamed Ranma in horror as they shifted sideways on the bike and slid under the back of a large semi truck to the other side of the street.   
  
"Relax, I got this," said Gai.  
  
"Now without my help you klutz!" snapped the boy angrily. "It's hard enough keeping balance on this thing as it is!"  
  
They shifted sideways on a small bridge and shot through the air over traffic on the street below into oncoming traffic. They passed the front of a small delivery truck narrowly missing both the truck and a concrete barrier that nearly blocked them from the correct lanes.   
  
"Stop that you asshole!" cried Ranma in horror.  
  
"Hey. You need me to steer right? Quit whining, you can handle it. Our skills must be in top form, if we're ever to become a true hero!"  
  
"So this is training then?" asked Amelia with a small cheer in her voice. She was starting to look at their speed as merely thrilling as opposed too scary.  
  
"But of course!" said Gai.  
  
"Training?" muttered Ranma dumbly. "Hey. Think we can make that jump?"  
  
"Now you're talkin like a true Cruzin 1987 fan!"  
  
"What the heck is that again?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"What jump?" asked Faye. The street in front of them appeared clear, and they should have long since passed anything they might have seen.  
  
Ranma smirked. "That one."  
  
The stretch of highway they were on was raised off the ground. Jutting up from below one of the barriers on a turn ahead, was a large crane. "Oh shit. No!"  
  
"Aw, we can make it," said Gai cheerfully.  
  
Sai was clinging to their back silently and hadn't said anything the whole trip. She wasn't bothered by the imminent danger that surrounded her, and was hoping her master would toss her off the bike soon. Moving at the speed they were going now, it would probably hurt quite a bit. It would leave rather nasty marks.   
  
She noticed their direction and nodded. Her master wished to splatter himself and her onto the ground. That would be quite unpleasant. She nodded firmly as she steeled herself. She did deserve it after all.  
  
"You crazy assholes!" screamed Faye. The men were holding her back to keep her from stopping. Fluffy was helping them stay the course. She could see the rooftops of the city's southern quarter. A dark and ominous cloud rumbled in the sky above as they passed through traffic and jumped the concrete barrier. The bike landed on the left edge of the crane and climbed the massive steel beam well over four hundred feet above the ground.  
  
"Quit whinin, I can do this no problem," said Ranma calmly. "Uh, I think."  
  
"What!?" cried Amelia.   
  
The bike flew over rooftops across several city blocks and shattered into the side of a high rise building through one of the windows. He hit the brakes and shifted sideways as he slid across the fourth floor of a rather large skyscraper. Shattered glass and crushed desks littered the area around his entry as he revved the engine a few times. "Oops."  
  
"You're gonna get us all killed!" screamed Faye. She passed out cold.  
  
"Wow," gasped Amelia.   
  
"Man. I thought nuthin could shut her up," commented Gai.  
  
"Let us enjoy the silence. This is where we were told to go?"  
  
"I think so, he said this guy runs things in the south part of town. I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly the right place though," said Ranma.   
  
Gai glanced around. "Um, it's some sort of office. Good thing it's so late, we might have hurt someone."  
  
"We are expected then," said Sesshoumaru coolly.   
  
"Master, Sai doesn't think we should be here. A very dangerous demon controls this area. It is better if we do not remain." The little demon looked quite nervous as she gripped him a little tighter from behind. "His time grows near, a great rise in power will come to him from his plans. We shouldn't upset him."  
  
"What do you know about this thing? I heard it was some sort of Triad boss gone bad."   
  
"It is old and powerful, and has tempted the leader of the Black Lotus organization. It now owns his soul, and will make him rule Hong Kong for him. Those men you met earlier, the ones who still might want to kill you. They said they hadn't decided yet. They will be destroyed by this demon if you do not kill them first. Sai will be happy to dispatch of them for you master. She will make sure to kill them horribly and consume their evil souls."  
  
"Uh..." The boy looked quite unsure how to respond to that. "I think I can handle that on my own thanks."  
  
"Very well master."   
  
Ranma found it somewhat hard to talk to her. She was insanely cute, but always had the most serious look on her face when she spoke to him. It looked out of place, almost disturbingly so. "We can take this guy right?"  
  
"We have little choice. As disgusting as it sounds, given my limitations thanks to you, we are better off appeasing the Triads. The demon would hunt for us anyway once it learned of us. Your insistence on not harming the pathetic human cows will severely limit us in dealing with them."  
  
"I ain't killin nobody!" snapped the boy.  
  
"Well, not with out a good reason anyway," added Faye diplomatically.   
  
"I was wondering how long you'd be out," said Gai.  
  
"You shut up! I almost died!"  
  
"Um, I'm not so sure about this place," muttered Amelia.   
  
"You should feel that way. We are being hunted as we speak. Our task is a bit more difficult than I expected. We cannot overpower our opponent, we must outclass them."  
  
"Why do you say that?" asked Ranma.  
  
"He is far more powerful than we are. Not so strong that we cannot accomplish this task. It will be difficult though. It is better to get it over with as quickly as possible. He has control of this area, and everything within it. If we do not strike, his forces will overwhelm us. The only way to stop them is to destroy him, or find safety outside of this area. You are not willing to turn back, and I am not willing to move forward yet. So, we find ourselves trapped."  
  
They wheeled the bike up to a window on the other side of the room and peered down into the city below. Sai jumped off and walked along beside him.   
  
"My god," muttered Faye in horror.  
  
Dozens of vaguely human zombies were stumbling up the stairs that lead to the entrance to the building. The streets were in ruins, cars burned on the street and trash covered the ground. It was complete chaos. Shots could be heard in the distance, along with cries of pain and horror that echoed through the streets. The glass in the window they were standing in was gone. From a distance the area of the city didn't look that bad.   
  
"Magic. Humans who enter this far into this place do not venture out of it. It is disguised from the world around it." Sesshoumaru seemed quite impressed.  
  
"What? How could anyone not notice this?!" cried Faye.  
  
"No! This is horrible! We have to do something!" cried Amelia. Below them the zombies were making their way slowly up to the center of the marble staircase that lead up to the building. There were dozens of them now, flooding towards them slowly as they crawled out of the surrounding area.  
  
"There is little we can do. You'd be surprised what can be hidden from the human world. I imagine this is nothing more than a bad side of town to the rest of the city. Demons can have a firm hold in communities if they wish to manipulate humans. Seems like a waste of time to me. They are better destroyed and removed from the way."  
  
"Seems like a lot of missing people, too many for this to be ignored," said Gai.  
  
"Ignored? Why do you think they sent us here?" commented Fluffy.  
  
"So they wouldn't have to bother killing us," said Faye flatly.  
  
"We'll discuss it with them when we meet them again," replied Sesshoumaru.  
  
"So now what? What the heck are those things? They'd better not sticking their heads in their crotches again!" Ranma seemed more annoyed than anything else.  
  
"Come on," said Gai. "We'll take the shortcut."  
  
"No!" screamed Faye. Alas, it was too late, the bike was already rocketing towards the open window.  
  
They came down in a graceful arc that landed the bike sideways with them standing on top of it on the stair rail. Both weapons were drawn as sparks flew off the surface of the bike as they slid down the railing towards the street firing in both directions. The rail ended and they flipped into the air as the bike came crashing into a mess of the undead things. They were rotten and burned corpses that screamed in agony and rage as they tried to turn and chase the boy.  
  
The bike exploded in a ball of flames from the damage it had suffered and Ranma casually kept walking down the road with his weapons ready. All of the zombies on the stairwell were lying motionless on the stairs.   
  
"These creatures will present no problems," said Sesshoumaru. "Weak magic meant to capture and destroy humans."  
  
"Cool," said Ranma. "Anyone know where this place is?"  
  
"That would be a good guess," said Amelia as she turned them towards a large skyscraper in the center of the infected area. A sickly purple light seemed to light the darkness around it. Dark clouds had formed overhead and thunder and lighting was centered on the building.  
  
"Good call," said Gai as he shot down two more of the zombie monsters.  
  
Unfortunately, it was quite a ways away. There was a lot of debris and places for nasty things to hide away or crawl up from in their path as well.  
  
"Thanks for blowing up our ride Guy," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"How was I supposed to know it would explode? That wasn't in the game!"  
  
"You asshole!" screamed Faye angrily.  
  
"I'm still dizzy," muttered Amelia.  
  
"Where is Sai?" asked Sesshoumaru. "She would be very useful right now."  
  
"Master, you should have told Sai to stay on the bike, so she could have been mangled." The demoness landed beside him and folded her wings up.   
  
Ranma frowned at her. "You want punishment? Fine, fight those things and keep them away from us."  
  
Sai bowed as she grew into her adult form. Her clothes did not grow, but simply became skimpier. "Yes master." She didn't think it was a very good punishment. "Sai is allowed to enjoy killing!"  
  
"Really?" asked Ranma in surprise.  
  
"Yes. Sai's master encouraged it."  
  
"Well, have fun." He shrugged and turned to start walking.  
  
Sai looked absolutely petrified with horror. Her tail fell limp and her wings drooped down as she simply stared at him slack jawed. "Huh?"  
  
"Sai, I can see some of them up ahead. I don't want to waste power fighting them."  
  
Her wings spread wide and she blasted forward towards the things that would dare annoy her master.   
  
Ranma simply watched as a green flame burned around her body. She landed and howled angrily before the undead things. They paused their forward motion for the briefest of moments.   
  
"My master has sent me to destroy you," she hissed with an inhumanly evil grin on her lips. Her tail snapped back and fourth behind her like a whip. Vicious looking claws had grown out of her fingers and toes. Two foot-long horns protruded from her head and her teeth were now razor points.   
  
"WOAH!" cried Gai.   
  
"Holy shit," muttered Ranma.  
  
"You made us sleep with it!" screamed Amelia. She promptly fainted.   
  
"Wasn't so bad," replied Ranma with a small shrug. "I guess we won't have any problems then."  
  
A huge ball of flames erupted up ahead of them as Sai planted her claws into the ground and became enveloped in a bubble of fire. She tore through the half-destroyed remains with her claws and ripped chunks of meat off with her teeth. She swallowed it greedily and put her foot through the crotch of the one behind her. It did nothing more than stand there twitching as she arced her leg up and cut it cleanly in two.   
  
"She's brushing her teeth and taking a bath before we let her touch us again," said Faye.  
  
"We need to find some mouthwash too," added Gai. "They got that stuff that kills anything."  
  
"That's a good idea," agreed Ranma.  
  
"I would be helping her," grumbled Sesshoumaru. Their stomach growled a little.  
  
"No one say anything," said Ranma firmly. "Just forget about it all right?"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"He definitely knows how to make an entrance," grumbled Shu ho as she stared up the length of the crane. The place was crawling with police, and she had heard of the stunt from them. No one had been sent in to find him either.   
  
She remembered spotting the briefest glimpse of him while walking through the streets. He was turning onto the road she was standing on now. It had been about a half-hour since she had spotted him. She wasn't sure why she followed him at all, especially on foot. Her hunch had been right, she knew where he was. "What's in Southern Hong Kong?" She was already moving in that direction when everyone in the street jumped suddenly. A loud explosion sounded somewhere in the near distance. From inside the city streets. "What the?"  
  
Everyone had reacted instinctively. None of them seemed to notice anything after that but her. "What's going on here?" She glared down at the road firmly as she walked. "It seems I'm on the hunt again." She needed to talk with him before she was willing to go to Cologne and stop the hunt. She had to be sure he wasn't dangerous. She still wanted that, but apparently it would require her to work a bit.   
  
She pulled a rolled up sword from her back and carefully removed the cloth covering it. She folded it up and put it into her pocket. She was dressed for walking around the city unnoticed. A T-shirt and blue jeans with a denim jacket. She also had a red and worn looking backpack on her shoulder. She tossed it into the bushes along the side of the road. It would probably be there when she came back for it. "If I come back for it," she muttered grumpily. Dark magic was becoming more and more apparent around her. "Something is hidden here." She continued to move forward towards the sound of the explosion.  
  
Her grip on her sword had grown firmer as she continued forward. There was no sound around her she could hear her own breathing quite clearly. There was also no light from anywhere but the sky. The moonlight gave everything an eerie black and white look.  
  
"This is nuts! I'm in the middle of Hong Kong," she whispered fearfully. She turned around and a bright and hot orange light suddenly appeared all around her. Flames burned on the sides of buildings and in the middle of the street. They appeared to have no fuel at all, but simply burned.  
  
"Oh man," she gasped as sound suddenly returned to her. Horrible screaming and suffering hit her like a tidal wave of sound. She fell to her knees and closed her eyes. "NO! This can't be!" She quickly regained herself and forced herself to her feet with her sword in her hand. "I cannot allow this!"  
  
She took the cloth from her pocket and wrapped it around her wrist. Flicking her arm back she laid it across her shoulder by holding that arm across her chest. The other arm held the blade ready. "I can't afford to lose again."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Genma Saotome sat back with a smile on his face. He had a pillow behind his head and headphones over his ears. His minions had insisted on him flying first class and even paid for his ticket. Once he had finished at the customs office at the dock, his lead minion had asked him about flying home.   
  
The nerdy minion burst into tears.  
  
He and his minions then had a bonding moment as they laughed at him. Genma was quite pleased with himself. Such a profitable venture, if only he could find the boy. He'd check around a few old haunts and see if his son had returned yet. If he hadn't, well, he would return to Japan. He knew where to find his son within a month of his return.   
  
As it was, he found his grin fading somewhat as an angry looking flight attendant glared at him and tapped her foot.  
  
"What is it stewardess?" he grumbled.   
  
Her eye twitched, she had a nametag that was no more than two feet from his eyes. Still, she continued to smile. "I'm sorry sir. You're going to have to come back to coach to keep your minions under control."  
  
"Huh?" he replied in confusion.  
  
"They stole the complimentary peanuts of half the passengers, and there isn't any more on the food cart. Half of our sodas have vanished as well. We even tried confining them to the seats. We couldn't even let them go to the bathroom. They've flushed all the toilet paper away."  
  
"Hmmm. Perhaps the toilet paper was a bit too much," said Genma with a serious nod. "What if I have to go to the bathroom later?"  
  
Her grin cracked as she stared at him through what remained of her smile. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stood up straight slowly. "This way...sir."  
  
She opened the door and Genma rushed into the rear cabin at what his eyes met. "What the hell are you doing?!"  
  
The minions were standing in the middle of the plane around a lone little boy. They were simply standing around him smiling darkly as they glared at him.  
  
Everyone else was cowering around the edge of the plane and the child's parents were huddled fearfully away.   
  
The boy was clutching a stuffed Pikachu fearfully.  
  
"We are worshiping the dark god!" The lead minion pointed at the stuffed animal. "The lord of evil!"  
  
"That kid?" said Genma dumbly.  
  
"No master, the effigy of him the child carries in his arms," replied the minion coldly. He poked the creature in the eye with his finger. "Most horrible indeed."  
  
"Stop that! I command you to sit quietly and share those peanuts and sodas you stole with me!"  
  
The lead minion sighed. "Very well. Let us hope that we have given this boy nightmares at least."  
  
The plane relaxed, but gave Genma and his minions plenty of clearance. The mother of the child had the boy firmly in her grip and was shaking her finger angrily at her husband.   
  
The man was white as he simply nodded. His wife had seen so insane when she told him that Pokemon was the devil. He had just assumed his son's interest was a normal phase of childhood, something he would grow out of. She was pointing at the glaring minions in her rant and was using one of her hands to cover her son's ears. His stuffed toy was sitting in the trashcan nearby, and he simply stared at it in a sort of horrified awe.   
  
"Pikachu is Satan? Mom was right? Awesome!"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was getting rather disturbed by his demon. He had told her to have fun, and she had taken it in a most interesting manner. The excessive force and vicious animal like behavior she was displaying was quite entertaining to watch. So far, they were halfway to the building and had yet to encounter anything else. They lumbered towards them out of alleyways and streets. Sometimes popping up from debris, or from under the street through exposed manholes. None of the streets had any sort of covers over the holes. Sometimes he could see the twisted remains of gratings in the near distance from some of the larger drainage tunnels. "This is a nasty place."  
  
"I wonder how long it's been this way? Nobody noticed?" muttered Faye in wonder. "Look at this place. Do you know what it would take to do something like this?"  
  
"Yes. Someone like me," replied Sesshoumaru calmly. "She is quite interesting. Perhaps we should ask her just how much she is capable of. I admit, her power level in her other form is miniscule. This form, is quite impressive."  
  
"Still think you could do better?" Faye laughed as she said this.  
  
"Of course," replied the demon calmly.   
  
"Did she just eat that dead thing's..." gasped Ranma in horror.  
  
"Turn away kid," said Gai as he forced them to look in another direction. "Some things you just don't want to know about a woman."  
  
"That isn't a woman." Amelia seemed quite angry. "I can't believe you two. You're going to do it again aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah. Later tonight."  
  
"Oh no you don't! It's our turn!" said Faye. "We're going out after this."  
  
"Fine, but you have to take Sai too," said Ranma. "We can't just leave her around you know."  
  
"Ranma you putz, that will only make things easier." Amelia seemed somewhat nervous again. "After last night, I guess there's no point in waiting anyway."  
  
"Good goin kid," grumbled Gai.   
  
"What?! Your turn?" Ranma went pale.  
  
"That's right. You wanna do that thing again? Well that means you've got to give something up, or us girls will turn something fun off for good. Don't think we can't either."  
  
"Leave me out of this!" snapped Amelia.  
  
"That ain't fair! This is my body!" he cried.  
  
"We talked about this already Ranma," said Faye irritably. "It's a deal? Remember?"  
  
"I..." He glared at the ground. "I know. I just... This isn't fair."  
  
"No, it isn't." Faye seemed somewhat sympathetic and it showed in her tone. "It's not fair for any of us."  
  
"I could care less," replied Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Yeah? Well I'm sure Gai cares, I know Amelia cares."  
  
"Not that much," she replied honestly. "I'm sure it will come up though, if we're really stuck like this."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Um. Is there a way we can talk about this later? This isn't the best of places, and I'd rather not talk about this kind of stuff while I'm watching the demon I slept with last night eat rotten human nads like oysters."  
  
"Oh god," muttered Gai. "Ranma. Don't ever tell her to have fun again. Please."  
  
"You're tellin me? I'm glad I didn't tell her to have fun last night! She coulda killed us!"  
  
"No. She cannot harm you." Fluffy was growing rather bored himself. "Not much of interest. That surprises me. Surely he didn't think he could remove us with just these pathetic creatures. I imagine we'll find a rather nasty trap up ahead somewhere."  
  
"Maybe he wants to meet us?" asked Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"Doubtful. We must kill this human he has in his hold. Then and only then can we send him away from this world. Such contracts are dangerous, I have a feeling there is something going on with the Yokai of this world, that my kind have not faced.   
  
"What's that?" asked Faye.  
  
"A war with the gods, on a level I have never before seen." He seemed thoughtful and stared down at the dirt for a long time. "It puzzles me."  
  
"Wow. You're admitting you don't understand something?" Faye was impressed.  
  
"Lack of knowledge can be corrected, stupidity obviously cannot."   
  
"What was that?"  
  
"An old family saying," replied the demon calmly.   
  
Faye growled. "Well let's hurry up and find this stupid trap. I want to shoot something."  
  
"Sai! Take that out of your mouth damn it! Gross!" cried Ranma.  
  
The demon turned around and blinked as the offending objects fell to the ground in a fatty splatter. "Yes Master?"  
  
"Sai. Stop eating them, it's driving me nuts."  
  
"Very well. If Sai has done something wrong..."  
  
"Yeah. Maybe I'll punish you later. Do you really have to eat them? I mean, it's gross."  
  
"Sai does not get hungry master," replied the demon cheerfully. "Shall Sai continue to kill?"  
  
"Sure, go ahead. Just...never mind. Just stop eating them all right? I can't watch that anymore."  
  
"Very well." The demoness snapped her arm back and grabbed the one lumbering up behind her by its neck. She popped the head off and punched a large hole in his chest with her other arm. She shook it off onto the dirt and smiled as she started gasping.   
  
Ranma shook his head. He had never seen such a satisfied looking grin on her face before. "Where the hell is this trap anyway? Do you know Fluffy?"  
  
"My name is Sesshoumaru. No, I do not know where the trap is. If I did, I would have told you already. It is better for me, if we are all ready. I suggest you keep your eyes open."  
  
"All right. Jeez."  
  
"Hey. This must be it," said Gai as he glanced around. Sai was standing just in front of them and several large yellow eyes peered at them from the black shadows of the alleys.   
  
Six lumbering beasts lurched forward. They had reptilian heads and skin, but an apelike body. Each one was easily ten feet tall. They hissed at the pair and began to spread out as they surrounded them from both sides of the street.   
  
"Wow!" cried Amelia fearfully. "This is bad!"  
  
"Not really," snorted Sesshoumaru. "Sai. Stand back for a moment. I grow weary of watching a battle take place around me."  
  
The demoness vanished from sight and took to the air. The reptiles hissed at this, but quickly focused their attention on the boy in front of them.  
  
"What are we gonna do?"  
  
Ranma had already taken the pole off of his back and twirled it skillfully around his left wrist as he spun around and pointed the blue handgun at the lizard behind him. "We're gonna kick their asses, that's what."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shu ho frowned as she spun around skillfully brandishing her sword as she hacked through the last remains of the zombie hoard that had ambushed her.   
  
The cloth in her free hand whipped about around her, hiding her movements and keeping them back. She glared at the five remaining monsters around her. They were circling in around her. She growled angrily and began twirling around hacking and slashing at them with both the sword and the cloth. Pieces of Zombie fell away squirming on the ground from both weapons.   
  
They were disgusting looking creatures that were all charred and burned. They were clearly made from human remains. "What the hell is this?" she cried angrily as the last one's head rolled across the street in front of her as she stopped her attacks. The street was now littered with about twenty of the fallen creatures.   
  
"This is impossible!" She stared at the dark ominous building above her. The glow from inside made it the most likely place to find the evil causing the disturbance. "I'm not strong enough," she muttered as she glared at it hatefully. She knew moving forward would probably destroy her, but maybe she could find a way to take it with her.   
  
Tears fell down her face as she pulled a white headband she'd had in her pocket around her forehead. "I must move forward. I do not have a choice."  
  
An angry sounding roar from something far bigger and more powerful sounded from a few streets away. She turned her head towards the sound and stepped back as it was joined by loud reptilian hissing from more than one source.  
  
What she heard next got her legs pumping immediately, gunfire.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The dark tower loomed over them in the near distance, they were standing in the tall shadow it created as the things slithered out from the darkness around them. "What should we do with them?"  
  
"Got me kid," said Gai with a small shrug.  
  
"I'm in the mood for a workout, we'll use the staff," said Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"Good call," agreed Ranma as he spun the weapon around his wrist. Flames started to burn from his clothing as he shifted his leg back and waited with the staff pointed at the ground. "Ready when you are," he said to the beast in front of him.  
  
They converged on him, seven of the monsters charged from the shadows leaping at him with claws bared. The boy merely chuckled as he began to swat them out of the air, sending them crashing into the buildings, and bringing large portions of the structures down on top of them.   
  
The boy stood calmly in the center of the street untouched by the first assault. "You're gonna have to do better than that."  
  
One of the things roared and crouched low to circle around them, the others followed suit and prepared to lunge forward as one.  
  
"Again? Are they that stupid?" grumbled Ranma irritably.   
  
"Well, I'm tired of this. I'm using the guns!" snapped Faye.   
  
"Oh all right," muttered Ranma as he put the weapon back on his back and pulled out his handguns. "Here they come."  
  
The creatures charged forward towards the boy, this time moving in groups of two or three. "They're trying to wear us down. Pathetic creatures."   
  
Ranma shot one of them in the face. It thundered down beside them like a gigantic boulder that forced them to shift aside. The remaining two landed opposite him and turned, hoping to catch him against the side of their fallen comrade. The boy kicked back up over the creature and jumped off of its side just as both of them slammed into it. He fired a few dozen rounds as he came down into both of them. Neither one moved much after that, well, one of them twitched its finger. Another bullet after they had landed put an end to that though.   
  
He glanced around at the remaining beasts. "Seems like they want to try again."  
  
"Dying here is better than going back to their master as failures," replied Sesshoumaru.   
  
"So now what?" asked Amelia. She didn't sound particularly worried anymore.   
  
"We finish them off," said Sesshoumaru coldly. "Ready boy?"  
  
"No. I said I wanted a work out!" Ranma growled angrily and flipped off the side of a burning car as one of the creatures lunged at him. He spun over the creature's head and fired at the apex of his leap. It stumbled into the vehicle in its death throes and landed half in the fire.   
  
The other monsters started rushing towards them in mass again, this time without coordination of any type. They simply moved mindlessly towards them.  
  
"This is more like it," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Our way is easier," said Amelia. She didn't sound particularly impressed.   
  
"Being a hero is an art, you have to know when to make the fights look cool!" said Gai. "That's pretty much all the time."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shu ho simply stared with her jaw down. Dozens of monsters were rushing around the boy, slashing, biting, and clawing. He danced around them with two firearms in his hands, firearms that could hurt demons. His body moved fluidly along walls, bouncing around the street like a superball. "Wow."   
  
He landed in front of the last remaining monster and actually shoved his hand into the creature's jaws, blowing its brain out the back of its skull before it could even think about biting down. He twirled the weapons around his fingers and put them away. "That was easy."  
  
"That was nothing," corrected Sesshoumaru. "The fight that awaits us will not be an easy one. What we have faced before now, pales in comparison. This demon isn't even that strong, but his power is far greater than ours. We must use our skill to destroy him."  
  
"That's what martial arts is for," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"If that is your answer, then we surely go to our doom boy," replied the demon calmly. "You cannot fight an opponent like this, with something so weak as a human body. Even one like ours. No boy, for this we shall need our weapons, and all of our cunning."  
  
"You hunt demons then?"  
  
The boy turned to see the Chinese demon hunter standing about ten yards away. "What? What the heck are you doin here?" He looked annoyed.  
  
"It is my duty to be here!" she snapped. "Listen you little punk..."  
  
"Get out of here, you'll just get in the way, and I'm not saving your ass. I'll handle it."  
  
The woman seethed angrily at him. "Look you jerk. I'm not about to take orders from you."  
  
"Sai! Come on!" he called over his shoulder.  
  
The demoness appeared out of the shadows and rushed up beside him.  
  
"What the fuck?" said the woman as she stared at the creature dumbly.  
  
"What is it master? Should Sai keep killing minions for you now?"  
  
"Yeah. Whatever," he muttered as he started walking.  
  
"What the hell is that?!" screamed Shu ho as she pointed at it.  
  
"It's my pet demon," he replied calmly. "Look. I'm sure there's a haunted house or something that needs you somewhere. You should probably head back and start looking for it."  
  
"You arrogant son of a bitch! What makes you think I can leave?"  
  
"Well just don't go in there." He pointed at the building. "Keep yourself busy out here or something. I ain't draggin no stupid girl into a place like that."  
  
The woman was gripping her sword as her eyes twitched. "You...you...You're a demon!"  
  
"I am not," he replied as he looked up at the skyscraper. He was now standing in front of the front doors and peering up at it. "Jeez. Look at the size of this place. I thought that old guy said a temple?"  
  
"There is probably one located somewhere inside," replied Sesshoumaru.   
  
"Stop ignoring me!" snapped Shu Ho as she walked up beside him.   
  
"Get lost," he said without looking at her.  
  
"No. We've got things to talk about."  
  
"Yeah? Like what?" he replied as he glanced back at her.  
  
"Like getting me to help you get those Amazons off your back. I can do that, but I need proof that you're a demon hunter."  
  
The boy pointed back at one of the lizard things body. "I'm pretty sure that's heavy. I'm guessin you're gonna have to drag it pretty far right?"  
  
"Look. I'm gonna need a bit more than that all right?" She looked like she was trying very hard to control her temper.   
  
"Like what?" the boy was starting to look even more irate.   
  
"I'm going with you. I'll help you kill this demon and watch you. When you're done, I'll go back, tell them about it, and you'll be free of them, and me. I'm really looking forward to that."  
  
"Great. I guess I should just hope you survive then." He glanced back at Sai. "Keep her out of my way. Don't hurt her either, that's not what I'm talking about. Try and keep her alive all right?"  
  
Sai looked somewhat downcast at this and nodded glumly.  
  
"What?!" screamed the woman as she stared at Sai. "No! Absolutely not!"  
  
"You'll do it, or you're not coming. This thing is too strong for me to get distracted by you."  
  
"Huh? What do you know about this?!" she snapped.  
  
"I don't even want you along. Keep quiet and stay out of my way. You can watch if you want. It'll be pretty cool."  
  
The woman looked like she wanted to strangle him. She kept quiet and glared at Sai angrily. "How am I supposed to trust a demon? How do I know this isn't some trap?"  
  
"You're the one who said you wanted to come along," he replied as he pushed open the front doors as if no magic had sealed them. Sesshoumaru had found a way around it while the others were talking with Shu ho. "An artful silence before the storm."  
  
The place was empty, devoid of life. A receptionist's desk sat on the other side of a large open floor. A hazy purple light lit everything in the building, giving just enough light to barely see by.   
  
An elevator door opened in a hallway behind the desk.   
  
"Looks like I've been expected," said the boy calmly.  
  
"We did kill many of his minions already," pointed out Sai.  
  
"So, you're just going to ride up and see him?" asked Shu ho dumbly.  
  
"Nah. I'm gonna walk. There's stairs." He pointed at the stairwell.  
  
The woman didn't look much happier, but seemed slightly relieved.  
  
  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma somehow knew this would get annoying. "You know. This is why I didn't want you to come."  
  
Shu ho was gasping for breath as she stared down twenty flights of stairs. "What kind of guy are you?"  
  
"This? This is nuthin." He glanced down at what she was staring at. "We're being followed. "More of those stupid zombies."  
  
"Great," muttered the woman.  
  
"Should Sai kill them?" asked the demoness hopefully.  
  
"No. You make sure she lives through this," said the boy as he continued climbing. They were nearing the top.   
  
The boy stopped and sighed. "Of course."  
  
"Now what?" snapped the Chinese woman.  
  
"There's some of them above us too. A lot of them actually. They're trying to sandwich us here. He pulled the weapons from his sides.   
  
  
  
"What do we do now?" asked the woman a little fearfully.  
  
"What else?" he asked as he glanced at her. He looked like he couldn't believe she'd even bothered asking.   
  
"Great." She pulled her sword out and readied herself again.   
  
Sai stepped in front of her. "Don't bother. None of them will get by me."  
  
The first groan was ended by a gunshot as Ranma charged forward. "Wait!" cried Shu ho as he sprinted upwards. He was knocking zombies off the stairs and into the seemingly bottomless depths of the stairwell as he charged through them above the Demon Hunter and her only real chance. The demoness that was smiling darkly as she shifted her weight forward. "Master said not to eat them in front of him. I'm sure he won't mind now."  
  
"What?" said the woman as she felt sick suddenly.  
  
Sai snagged one of the falling monsters from the pit and ripped its throat open with her teeth. She drank the blood greedily and tossed the creature away in two pieces as she ripped it in half. "Sai is allowed to have fun."  
  
"Oh shit," muttered the Hunter.  
  
"Don't worry, Sai will protect you," said the demon as it glanced over its shoulder. The zombies were closing in and Shu Ho staggered back away from them with her sword ready.   
  
Sai merely spread her wings and hissed. "Weaklings! Sai will feast on your entrails!" She really meant it too.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood in front of two massive wooden doors that lead into some sort of large chamber on the rooftop of the building. A few zombies were still milling after him slowly. Hundreds of them littered the ground behind them that weren't moving. They were little threat. "I think my fingers are getting cramped."  
  
"This is what we are looking for," said Sesshoumaru. "Come." They pushed the doors aside easily, a crackling energy arced across them as the spell holding them sealed struggled to hold. He grunted and pushed them forward forcefully as he strained to keep himself from being forced back. Finally, he strolled onto a deep red carpet. A massive fireplace stood before an altar of some sort in front of them.   
  
"You are strong to have made it this far." The man sitting behind a wooden desk in the center of the room watched them calmly as they strolled in. He seemed unafraid and mostly uninterested in them. "Hong Kong is mine. You cannot stop it." He was young, and had slicked back black hair.   
  
"I was expectin someone older," said the boy in front of him as he stepped in front of the desk. "Guess you made out pretty good on that deal you made huh?"  
  
"I will be the ruler of Hong Kong for thousands of years. You are nothing..."  
  
"Pathetic human, flapping your lips as if you had any power of your own." The boy had his two fingers pointed towards the ceiling over his shoulder now. A string of light was wrapped around the man's neck that lifted him up from his seat. The man struggled to free himself and pushed his palms against the desk trying to force himself out of it.   
  
"You...you can't do this!"  
  
"Who's going to stop me? You?" The boy frowned at him and jerked his hand in a wide arc. The slim and attractive man was thrown against the wall and came crashing through the top of a table.   
  
Ranma merely pointed his clawed and glowing fingers towards him. "Dokkasou." Power shot from his hand like a cloud of mist that enveloped the man. His skin began to melt away along with the rest of him as he screamed in pain. "Worm."   
  
Ranma turned towards the altar. "Now, we need only to destroy this. The demons power over this place will be broken."  
  
"What?" said Ranma. "Look, that guy was a dick and deserved to die. I thought there was some demon here or somethin though."  
  
"I had thought he might try and protect his investment. I have seen nothing of what has given him all this power. It seems that worm has been abandoned. Once we destroy the demon's seal within this temple he will lose his hold here. His power will fade, and if he does not acquire another to take his place, vanish."  
  
"I've got a better way," said Amelia firmly. "We don't need to destroy anything to do it either."  
  
"Huh?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
"What do you think will happen to you if you keep using his power like this?" snapped the girl angrily. "You need to find other ways to do things. That was why we got those weapons. We shouldn't rely on him. He's not trustworthy."  
  
"What are you talking about though?" asked Gai.  
  
"I can purify this place. I can use that altar as a focal point. I'd only need a few stones with some runes in them. She started ripping up chunks of floor and set them on the desk. She smiled as she grabbed a pen and then stopped.   
  
"This is a pen right?" she asked.  
  
"It's a permanent marker," said Gai as they stared at it.  
  
"How...um. Is this it?" She twisted off the top and promptly drew a long line down their wrist. "Oops."  
  
"Just draw the stupid runes!" snapped Ranma irritably.   
  
"All right. I'm doing it," she grumbled as she started to scrawl.  
  
Sesshoumaru remained silent through this. "I am not familiar with this magic."  
  
"Demons can't use it," she replied simply. "It's for purification. It removes darkness from things. I had to make them pretty big because of the size of this place." She lifted the chunks of floor into her arms and carted them towards the altar. There were five of them; each one was about a foot wide and long. They were only an inch or so deep though. She set them up around the altar in a circle and stood behind it. "I'm going to need your help Ranma."  
  
"Right," said the boy. They raised their hands over their heads and closed their eyes. The runes began to glow with a white light. "This might be a little tricky, try and stay with me."  
  
The boy kept up admirably as the girl started to recite some sort of spell. "Spirits of darkness! Be gone from this place!"  
  
A bright white light shined. It grew into an ever-larger sphere of power. It expanded around them and spread through the walls of the building as it steadily grew brighter.   
  
Finally engulfing a large portion of the streets and consuming the building completely, beams shot out of it in every direction, giving one final and super bright flash.  
  
"That wasn't so bad," said Ranma. He looked around and shrugged as he headed for the doors. The evil Triad boss was nothing but a puddle of sticky and smoking goo on the floor. "Guess that means those Triad guys will leave us alone. Bet that chick doesn't bother us either."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Sai chewed on a slimy looking piece of intestine as Shu Ho simply stared at her. She wasn't sure what to think, but she'd never been able to simply watch one before.   
  
Once the white light enveloped them, the monsters simply fell over. Nothing had moved in the hallway, and it was now littered with all sorts of messy fluids and body parts. All of it was below her though, as promised, she hadn't inflicted a single blow against them. None of them ever got close enough.   
  
Sai glanced back at her and grumbled irritably. It was clear the demoness didn't really like her watch duty. "I guess I can't blame her. I kill things like her."  
  
A few footsteps behind her alerted her to the presence of the boy as he casually strolled downward.   
  
He glanced at Sai. The creature spit what she had in her mouth out immediately.   
  
"That's just gross you know that?" he said to her as he shook his head. "Come on. We're done here."  
  
Shu Ho didn't like his attitude, she didn't like his arrogance, and she had to go back and tell the Amazons they had to leave him alone. She thought about it for a moment. "You know. I didn't see you actually do anything. I still don't have any proof. You were supposed to take me with you."  
  
The boy glared at her. "I only said you could come inside with me. I held up my part of the bargain, you keep yours."  
  
The woman seemed conflicted for a moment. "All right. I'll try and stop them, but without seeing anything for myself, they'll be skeptical at least. They aren't very trusting."   
  
The boy frowned at her and kept going. "So what? It's not like they can hurt me anyway."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The trio stepped out into the street. The stars could clearly be seen in the sky above. The streets were quiet, but still destroyed. Flames still burned from the buildings, but they seemed to be dying down slowly.   
  
Sai's skin was now bright pink, but she wasn't complaining. She would slap herself on the leg from time to time and wince painfully. Ranma decided to ignore this, as she seemed to keep herself busy with finding ways to use it to cause herself pain.   
  
"Well. I guess this is where you leave." Ranma looked back at the woman and she nodded.   
  
"I guess so." She shrugged and started walking down a different street.   
  
Both of them froze and turned to look at each other.  
  
"Master. Sai thinks it is a very good idea for us to leave very quickly." The demoness didn't seem too interested in the ground rumbling under them. She was occupied by sticking her hand into one of the fires in the street. She turned and hopped into it letting it burn around her body. Quite painful with her skin as sensitive as it was at the moment.   
  
"What was that?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I suspect the demon is not pleased with our interference." They turned their head up to look calmly at what tore up through the concrete in a pillar of flame and magma. All of the fires around them flared to life again as they became ten times larger.   
  
A massive centipede like creature loomed over them. It towered hundreds of feet into the air with most of its body still underground. The exoskeleton of the monster appeared to be made of pulsating and boiling magma. Its jaws billowed smoke and a sulfur stink filled the air as it roared. The air in front of its face shimmered with heat as it did this. Insect like appendages crashed lined its sides as its head turned down towards them.  
  
"Oh shit!" said Gai.  
  
"We must focus," said Sesshoumaru.   
  
The creature roared as it dove for them ,forcing them to jump over it as it ripped into the ground and vanished beneath the street. Ranma spun around to face the hole with his handguns held ready.   
  
The ground under them exploded as the monster came up from below them in the street. The asphalt below them melted away as they pushed off and dove back down while firing into it with both weapons. The jaws shattered the heated remains of the pavement just as their feet left it.   
  
They hit the ground on their shoulder and rolled to the side firing into it with little result. The beast crashed its face into the street again and crawled beneath the concrete ignoring the gunfire.  
  
"Shit! We need a bigger gun!" cried Gai.  
  
"What about those bullets?" asked Faye.   
  
"I would not waste one against its hide," replied Sesshoumaru. "We must find a weakness first."  
  
"Weakness?!" cried Ranma angrily. "On that thing?!" The ground under them began to roll and crack as it shook violently and began to form waves. Three of the creatures legs shot up from the concrete and slammed into them.   
  
Ranma was thrown into the air and twisted as the monster's head tried to snap him up in mid air. He spun around and the magma plate that protected its head tossed him into the side of a building and through a wall.  
  
He stood shakily and turned to look through the hole. The thing was watching him from just outside. "Oh shit." He turned and ran towards a window on the opposite side of the building. The demon charged into the building headfirst. Rather than chase him, it began twisting itself into the structure and actually ground it up in its coils.   
  
It wrapped itself around the boy, pummeling him with debris from the building as it ground itself around him.  
  
The boy clutched the surface of the monster as it wrapped around him. He could feel the heat as his hands became submerged in the magma surface. The monster glared down at him with its jaws dripping with flames. It opened its jaws and roared at him.  
  
"Now what?" asked Faye. They were in quite a pinch.  
  
"Too late!" cried Gai fearfully as the monster swooped down to bite them in half.   
  
Ranma grunted as he tossed the black staff into the creature's open jaws. He dropped the red handgun and it plummeted to the ground below. He felt the coils loosen as the surprised monster put it's mouth down over them, but found itself unable to bite down.  
  
The boy was squirming desperately as he managed to free his hips. He could see the staff bending slowly as sweat poured off his body. The heat within the creature's jaws was intense. He growled as he loaded the magazine into the weapon and cocked it. "You wanna eat something, I got somethin for ya!" He fired the shot into the creature's throat as it squeezed tighter and started to crush his legs.   
  
The beast roared angrily as the force of the shot threw its head back. Ranma watched as the power seemed to eat away at parts of the creature's head.   
  
"What kind of bullet was that?" asked Amelia.  
  
"Um, water I think," replied the boy.  
  
"You idiot!" screamed the princess.  
  
"Looks like it worked pretty good to me," commented Gai.  
  
That was when the noticed the swelling that was starting all over the creature's body.   
  
"Aw, man," muttered the boy as he stared at it.  
  
The beast exploded in a violent cloud of steam and fire.  
  
A huge cloud rose high into the air above them as they plummeted down after the explosion. The pavement rushed up to meet them, and then there was only darkness.   
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"So. You are finally awake?"   
  
Ranma opened his eyes and glanced around. "Where?" He was in a bed and his wounds were dressed neatly in clean bandages.   
  
Sai was sitting above his bed staring down at him. "Hello master."  
  
Shu ho was sitting across from him with a book in her lap. "That was quite a battle. The amazon tribe will no longer attempt to kill you. You are free of them. One of the elders is waiting to speak with you."  
  
The boy blinked in confusion as he glanced around. "So. Where am I anyway?"  
  
"A safe place for those like us. There is someone else who wants to meet you here as well. I do hope you're polite to her." The woman narrowed her eyes at him and frowned for a moment. "I suppose I should thank you. What you have done..."  
  
"I ain't through yet," he growled at her irritably.   
  
"We have nothing to discuss. I've fulfilled my part of this deal. Now, I shall walk out of your life." She smiled at him and stood up. "You are a guest here. Please try and be polite to your host."  
  
"That was weird," said Ranma as he scratched his head.   
  
"That was close," muttered Faye.  
  
  
  
"I told you it would be difficult," said Sesshoumaru.   
  
"We did it though," offered Amelia. "That's something."  
  
"Now what?" asked Gai. "I mean, we can't just lie here can we?"  
  
"Now, we go find something for us girls. No more jobs until we find a man." Faye cheerfully hopped out of the bed and walked towards the door. They had to grab their shirt from a nearby chair, and roll their pant legs down. "I'm surprised this stuff survived that." Ranma looked down at his clothes in surprise.   
  
"I hope these people don't keep us too long. I want to get this over with," grumbled Gai.   
  
"Come on Sai. We're gonna go see what these people want us for and leave," said Ranma as he glanced at his demon.  
  
"Yes Master. Will Sai be punished when we return?"  
  
"Maybe tomorrow night," said the boy a little wearily.   
  
"Definitely not until she's had a decent bath!" snapped Faye.   
  
"I can't believe you're still going to do that!" cried Amelia.  
  
They walked up to the door and found their weapons sitting on a dresser top right next to it. They collected them and strolled out into the home.   
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	6. Insertion RE 6

Insertion: Reflux  
  
Part 6  
  
Girls night out!  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome sat in front of an old Chinese woman with a cup of tea in front of him. She was doing much the same with a cheerful smile on her face. He was wearing his green Hawaiian shirt and had a pair of shades over his eyes. He looked completely out of place in the traditional looking room.   
  
"What's this about? Why did I wake up here?"  
  
"Well, we couldn't just leave you lying around in such a place," said the woman cheerfully. "You have a name boy?"  
  
"Gai," he replied as he narrowed his eyes at her.   
  
She couldn't see his eyes and nodded. "I see. I suppose we all have our secrets. Gai is it?"  
  
"That's right. I'm not sure I want you to know my real name yet."  
  
"I suppose that is understandable, considering who you visited before this meeting. I am Ling Wo. You may call me Ling if you wish." She seemed to accept it and shrugged. "As to why here? I would have been very cross with Shu Ho if she had just left you lying there. You are a demon hunter?"  
  
"That's right," he said simply. He was ignoring the tea and focusing on her carefully. He didn't look particularly threatened though. She could tell that by how relaxed he was. He didn't see her as a threat at all.   
  
"I am an elder, in an order of men like you."  
  
"I am not a man," replied the boy calmly.   
  
"What are you then?" she asked him as she arched her eyebrow.   
  
"I'm not sure. I know I ain't human no more." The boy's face fell slightly at his own words.   
  
"I think you are more human than you think, boy," replied the old woman as she sipped at her tea. "I can aid you."  
  
"I don't need help," he replied calmly.   
  
"No one can face such things without help, boy," warned the woman as she suddenly placed her cup down.  
  
"I can," replied the boy arrogantly. "I have the power to become stronger than they are."  
  
"I know the sound of such a tongue. I speak to the demon inside you do I not? Shu ho told me of what you said to her. Do you really think you can control him alone?"  
  
  
  
"Who said I was alone?" was the simple reply.  
  
"I do not understand," said the old woman as her face contorted slightly.   
  
"You don't need to." He stood up and glanced over his shoulder at her. "I can handle this myself."  
  
"You are a fool to believe you can contain such an ancient power on your own boy. I do not think this help you speak of will be much aid. He is regaining his power, I can see that clearly enough. Whatever you did to him is wearing off, and soon you'll be faced with the full force of his power. Do you think you can stand against it?"  
  
The boy was standing in the doorway looking back at her. "You live here?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'll think about it. I've got some business to take care of. I'd like to get paid for what I did for them."  
  
The woman let out a heavy sigh as she nodded her head wearily. "I will be here."  
  
"We've got something to talk about later," said Ranma calmly. "You don't have any say in this discussion either."  
  
The old woman nearly dropped her tea as she watched him walk out the door. "What?" Her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the table and carefully placed her cup down. "I see. An interesting query."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Outside the home, Ranma found himself in the middle of a quiet suburban neighborhood. He noticed the city in the near distance and glanced around.  
  
"Hey, we can buy a car if we want now," said Gai.  
  
"I like that idea," agreed Amelia.  
  
"We don't have to behave until we get back to Japan," said Faye cheerfully. "We don't need to waste money that way right now anyway. We don't know how long we'll be here."  
  
"She is correct. It would be a waste considering the ease we can perform such a task. Thanks to my magic of course. I doubt we'll have much need of such a thing. We won't be traveling on roads much."  
  
"Well, I think we should go back to Ranma's home as soon as we can. I also think we should come back and see that old lady tomorrow. She might be able to help us find the true path of justice!" Amelia seemed quite heroic when she said this.   
  
"Well, I wouldn't quite put it that way, but I agree...sort of," replied Faye.  
  
Sesshoumaru snorted arrogantly. "I shouldn't bother replying to such a pathetic gesture. She is not bluffing about my power. I am growing stronger. Soon, nothing will stop me, not even you pathetic wretches."  
  
"Well, something else on our to do list before we can go anywhere," grumbled Faye.   
  
"If nothing else, we should be able to find out more about other hunters," chirped Amelia.   
  
"Well, we got Sai to keep us busy, so I'm pretty much set wherever we're at," said Gai cheerfully.   
  
"Speaking of which, where is she?" asked Ranma out loud. He turned around and almost bumped into her.   
  
"Where are we going master?" she asked him.   
  
"Back to see those Triad dorks and see if they still want to kill me."  
  
"So. You had other motive behind your actions?"  
  
"Another old chick?" muttered the boy irritably as an old woman balanced on a staff appeared in front of him. "Great. What do you want?"  
  
"I am Cologne. I am the elder of the Amazon nation. We have agreed to stop hunting you, now that you have proven yourself a hunter of demons. However, this protection only applies to those who are of the order. Our agreement was with them."  
  
"You got some guts walkin up to me talkin that way," muttered the boy irritably.   
  
"You're a hundred years too young to challenge me."  
  
"Don't be so sure of that old woman. I have the experience of Sesshoumaru to aid me. He wouldn't mind killing you much at all. In fact, he's telling me just how much you need to be destroyed right now. Kind of annoying really."  
  
"Sesshoumaru?" inquired the old woman as her eyes narrowed.  
  
"Just a demon. Much older than you could ever hope to be. At any rate, you can't threaten me. I have enough strength to wipe out your entire race if I wanted too. I've been nice enough not to kill them so far, but I'm getting tired of dealing with it."  
  
Cologne did not move. She simply stared at him calmly as her frown deepened. "Choose your words carefully boy. I see a dark seed growing within you."  
  
"Well, sometimes I gotta let him get a few words in. It ain't really fair otherwise." The boy shrugged at her.   
  
"You are an enigma boy, but a dangerous one. We will be watching you closely."  
  
"You do that." He glanced over his shoulder and saw Sai hiding behind a nearby trashcan watching everything closely. "Come on."  
  
"Yes, Master," she muttered as she quickly scurried past the shocked old woman.   
  
"A demon servant?"  
  
"Picked her up on a job a while back," replied the boy cheerfully as he continued walking away. "Neat huh?"  
  
"Wasn't that long ago," grumbled Gai.   
  
"She doesn't need to know that," replied Sesshoumaru calmly.  
  
"I'm glad we told her off. The nerve of that bitch! She tried to kill us!" snapped Faye.  
  
"We might have made her angry again!" cried Amelia. "We should have been nicer!"  
  
"I didn't appreciate her tryin ta kill me!" snapped Ranma. "Jeez that ticks me off!"  
  
Cologne watched him walk down the street and away from her. "He is not stable. If he does not follow the order, we must destroy him."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked into the restaurant and frowned. There were a few other tables, but the two old men were sitting in the same place as always. The other patrons were quickly ushered out by men in suits who closed the door behind them as they went out. The boy watched all of this happen and turned towards the old men.  
  
"You have done well," said Li Shao cheerfully.  
  
"Yes, a very good job," agreed Mao Sheng.  
  
"I'm free of that contract then?" asked the boy as he stared at Mao Sheng directly.  
  
"I have not yet consulted with the Amazons. I am certain they will have no trouble dropping the matter."  
  
"Good," said the boy calmly.  
  
"I dunno Ranma. That old lady was pretty pissed at us," pointed out Gai.  
  
The old man flipped open his phone and took a call as Li Shao started to eat. The boy noticed Mao Sheng glance at him as he turned away towards the door. "Yes. I understand. I just wanted to speak with you about the matter."   
  
"Sai. Can you hear what that call is about?"  
  
"It's that old woman," said the demoness warily. Her master had never spoken to her with his mind before. "She says...um...She's not hunting the master anymore, but those guys still can."  
  
"Sai. Come here." The boy stopped in the middle of the room and looked up at the darkened corner near the ceiling.  
  
Both men froze as two bat like wings melted out of the shadows. The little demoness was still in her smaller form as she floated too the ground and looked up at her master in confusion. "Say hello Sai."  
  
She waved at them both and bowed. "Um, nice to meet you?" She was looking up at him in confusion as she bowed to them. "You wanted Sai for something?"  
  
"What is this? What is that thing?" snarled Li Shao angrily.  
  
"This is Sai. Sai is a demon. She's my personal slave, picked her up on a job a while back." He grinned at them both and patted her head.   
  
Mao Sheng was glaring at her. "Why?" He slowly turned to look at his phone, but quickly looked back up at them.  
  
"She can hear quite well," replied the boy as he narrowed his eyes at the man. "Sai. Show these guys what you really look like."  
  
The demoness nodded and stood up straight.   
  
Ranma looked just as surprised at the transformation that occurred. Rather than taking on a demonic form, Sai actually began to look more human. She changed into her older form, and her dark hair flowed down her back as if driven by some invisible wind. She was wearing a red dress and had a jeweled sword in her hand; she was also wearing a small gold circlet over her forehead. She looked incredibly wild as she glared forward at the two men in front of her.  
  
"What is this?" whispered Sesshoumaru in confusion.   
  
"Um...this is what you really look like?" asked the boy dumbly. He scratched his head and stared at her.   
  
Sai simply nodded. "Yes. Should she turn back now? Sai is not familiar with this form."  
  
"Sure," said the boy as he stared at her with his hand scratching the side of his head.   
  
She turned back into the young demon.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" snarled Li Shao.  
  
"Sai, just grab him." The boy pointed at Mao Sheng.  
  
The man raised his arms and started to yell in protest. Her claws muffled his voice as she lifted him up by his face and stood in their meal. She looked horrifically demonic. Her legs were now clawed and fur covered. Two giant black wings flapped behind her, knocking Li Shao to the floor, where he remained cowering. Two foot-long horns rose out of her skull as she stared at him with the two cat-like slits of her golden eyes.   
  
"Anyway. You see..." He glanced back at the door in annoyance as the men outside began shooting it. None of the bullets were penetrating.   
  
"Don't worry master, Sai has sealed the room. They cannot enter."  
  
Li Shao went as white as a ghost.   
  
"Sai can get into places without being seen. You see; if another bullet is fired at me by one of your men, I'll send the pieces of him to you, and then I'll send her to bring the pieces of you to me. Understood?"  
  
The demoness's tail whipped about violently behind her. Chunks of the table fell on Li Shao as she knocked holes into the surface with it. "Sai would gladly serve her master now."  
  
"I'll give him a chance first," replied the boy calmly. "Come on." He walked towards the back door and left both of the men in the same position.  
  
Sai leered at Mao Sheng for a moment before tossing him across the room. "Sai hopes you ignore the master's warning. Sai is allowed to enjoy killing." She vanished through the door after him.  
  
Both men sat on the floor gasping for breath as they tried desperately to collect their wits.   
  
"Still feel like trying to kill him?" asked Li Shao bitterly.   
  
"Not really," was the gasped reply.  
  
"Good, because if you decide too, I'm not helping you."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma kicked down the door knocking several men in suits to the ground in the alley behind the restaurant. He calmly strolled out and dusted off his shirt as they fumbled around on the ground in front of him.  
  
"Guess we should go see that old chick now?"  
  
"No. It's our turn," said Faye flatly.   
  
The men swarmed up to him, but were quickly dispatched with a few swipes of his staff. He strolled out into the street unmolested and put it back on his back. Sai hopped up beside him with a cheerful smile on her face. "Now what Master?"  
  
"Now we go get laid," he said simply as he started walking down the street. "Wanna come?"  
  
"Sai must follow the master."  
  
"We ain't puttin nothin in our mouth," grumbled Gai. "Let Sai do it."  
  
Faye sounded irritated. "Fine. I guess you guys didn't try that either..."  
  
"Why would we put anything in our mouth?" asked Ranma and Amelia.  
  
"It confuses me as well," said Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Just forget about it." Faye muttered angrily.   
  
"What the heck would we put in our mouths anyway?" said Ranma.  
  
"Well, if you really want to know. I'll tell you," said Faye sweetly. "Girls really like it too! I promise!"  
  
"Really?" muttered the boy dumbly.  
  
"Uh-huh," said Faye silkily.  
  
"Ranma. Trade off, remember, trade off," said Gai firmly.  
  
"Will someone please tell me what the heck you're talkin about?!" cried the frustrated boy.  
  
"Ranma, remember what Sai did to us in the bathroom that one time?" asked Gai patiently.  
  
"No way!" cried the boy in horror.  
  
"All right! All right! I get the goddamn point! If you boys behave yourselves, I will too. Screw up just once, and all bets are off."  
  
"I can live with that," said Gai.  
  
"I'm not so sure about this myself," muttered Amelia. She seemed slightly relieved by the deal.   
  
"I wouldn't worry about it, they'll come around. I'm sure of it."  
  
"Where the heck are we goin anyway?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Perhaps another Soul Well?" commented Sesshoumaru.   
  
"Jerks," growled Faye. She paused as the sidewalk neared a small fountain. She dipped their head into the pool and whipped it back out. She sighed to herself and seemed to relax. "Ah, much better. Come on Amelia. First, we need to do some shopping."  
  
"Sounds good," chirped the young girls.  
  
"Ranma. Prepare yourself," said Gai nervously.  
  
"Shopping? For what?" said the boy dumbly.  
  
"What's wrong with this?" he asked as he looked down at himself.   
  
"We're dressed like a man," grumbled Faye. "We need girls clothes, and something to keep some cold water in." She turned into a large clothing store and gasped. Sitting right in front of her was a makeup counter. Small plastic bottles for hair care were sitting right on top of one of the glass counters. The rest of the store was filled with expensive clothing. "Yes!" She quickly nabbed one and smiled at the woman behind the register.   
  
The woman didn't look happy to see her. "Can I help you?"  
  
"I need some clothes," she said cheerfully as she grinned at the woman. "I had to buy this crap at the hotel gift shop."  
  
The woman's frown faded somewhat. "I see. What were you looking for exactly?"  
  
"A whole wardrobe."  
  
"You can't do this to us!" screamed Gai.   
  
"What's wrong?" asked Ranma.  
  
"We're going to be here for hours!" cried the distraught man. "Oh no!"  
  
"Can it. Ranma, don't listen to him. You'll be perfectly fine." Faye growled at Gai. She looked down at the card in her hand and frowned.   
  
"How were you planning on paying?" asked the woman.  
  
"You take a check?" asked Faye.   
  
"It has to be approved."   
  
The redhead glanced back over her shoulder and frowned at Sai. "Behave yourself."  
  
The demoness sighed and started putting clothes back onto the racks as stealthily as she had taken them. None of the security cameras had spotted her. She walked up next to her and looked at the shallow woman standing behind the counter. She looked more annoyed than anything else. The master should have been trying to tempt her into evil, or consuming her soul. Why does the master wish to purchase such things?  
  
"It'll help me get laid," was the simple reply.  
  
The sales woman laughed nervously. "Um, yes."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was looking at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a skimpy light colored miniskirt with a small white jacket over a black and white tube top. A small black and white purse hung from her wrist as she shifted herself around a bit more and looked herself up and down.  
  
Gai was relatively calm by this point. "You know. We're so hot, this isn't so bad."  
  
"See. All that whining for nothing," said Faye cheerfully. "Ooh. We're gonna have to pick this one up too!"  
  
"This is creepy," grumbled Ranma. He was kind of glad that there was someone else around to handle the girl body. However, that didn't make the clothes any more comfortable. "Why the heck do chicks wear this stupid crap? It's damn uncomfortable!"  
  
"I dunno about this," muttered Amelia. "I think it shows too much skin."  
  
"That's the point. We want to attract a man remember? A good one too."  
  
"I'd do us," said Gai.  
  
"Sick!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Pig," muttered Amelia.  
  
"What?" cried the man defensively. "We're hot! Look at us!"  
  
"He does have a point," said Faye cheerfully. She paused. A well-dressed man was sitting in a chair just outside the dressing rooms hiding a grin on his face. He was dressed in an expensive looking gray suit and had slicked back hair. He was European and was watching them closely.  
  
"That guy is starting to creep me out," muttered Faye irritably.   
  
"What's he gonna do? Look at us to death? It's not like some dork like that can hurt us," grumbled Ranma. "Can we go now? We've been here three hours now." A large stack of outfits, shoes and assorted other clothing items was resting on a nearby chair opposite the man.   
  
She looked up at the clock. "You're right. It has been a while. That guy has been sitting there almost the whole time." She turned to face him and frowned. "Can I help you?"  
  
"No, but maybe I can help you," he replied with a thick French accent as he stood up. "I think I've been looking for you." He looked to be in his late twenties, and had a very relaxed and friendly air about him. He spoke like he wanted something from them, aside from the obvious.  
  
"You've been staring at me all day. You think some pick up line is going to work?" Faye didn't like this man much. It was quite clear in how she was acting towards him.   
  
"I'll get rid of him," muttered Ranma irritably.   
  
"You stay out of this," snapped Faye. "I can handle this myself. I've got Amelia to help me anyway."  
  
The boy sighed and decided to ignore things unless he got too fresh. He didn't like him much either."I think you misunderstood me I want you to make a whole lot of money, working for me." He flipped her a card skillfully from his sleeve.   
  
She smirked at him and made it vanish into her own hand, without the aid of a sleeve.   
  
The man blinked at this and laughed politely. "I see. Most impressive, I can assure you that this is quite on the up and up. Why do you think I wasn't asked to leave during all this time?"  
  
"Maybe they didn't notice you yet?" asked the redhead as she narrowed her eyes at him and grinned wolfishly.   
  
"I'm afraid there isn't much in this store that doesn't go unnoticed. I am Ralph Muugen. The clothes you are wearing are from my collection. You have a few more, admirable, selections. I do wonder about this one though." He lifted up something that was made from black vinyl for a moment and smirked. "I would be very interested in making you a super star. I do not think it would be very difficult."  
  
"What the heck is this asshole talking about?" grumbled Ranma angrily. "Are we going to deck him or not?"  
  
"No! You idiot! He's offering to pay us to take our picture!" snapped Faye. "Wow! This is like a little girl's dream!"  
  
"A model? Wow!" agreed Amelia. "Even as a princess I'd imagine things like that sometimes!"  
  
"Who doesn't?!" agreed Faye.  
  
"Me," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"Yo!" agreed Gai.  
  
"I would not dream of something so foolish," muttered Sesshoumaru. "Besides. We don't have time for such things."  
  
"Foolishness that might let us live in luxury for the rest of our lives?!" cried Faye angrily. "Even if it is an off chance, I'm not about to pass this up! Look, if it doesn't work out we'll back out of it. I just wanna try it!"  
  
"You seem to be thinking very hard," said the man as he grinned at her. He put his hand on her shoulder and turned away. "You have my number. Give me a call in a day or so to let me know. I cannot wait forever, but I assure you I can make your wildest fantasies come alive."  
  
"Sounds familiar," muttered Sai.   
  
"I sense nothing from him," replied the demon inside them. "Do not take that to mean we can trust him."  
  
"Man. We're gonna have a big meeting about this stuff later," said Amelia. "I think we have enough though."   
  
"Wait! What about you?" said Faye as she stared down at the demoness. "Hmm. That won't do at all..."  
  
The little demon blinked. She was still half-asleep, and had never been so bored in her entire existence. "Are we going now Master?"  
  
"No. Now we're shopping for you! Come on! I'm tired of this place now." The redhead turned towards the counter with an armload. She stepped out into the street with an armload of boxes.   
  
"This is the third store we've been too!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Sai is very pleased you have devised a worthy punishment for her master," said the Demoness as she stared up at the redhead. "She does not like shopping. It is quite boring. How many years shall we continue for?"  
  
"Quit whining! You get to do the fun part now!" said Faye as she hefted the boxes into the creature's arms. Sai carried the load quite easily and shuffled off after her master as she moved on to the next big expensive looking store on the street.  
  
"It's not a very good punishment if Sai is allowed to do fun parts," muttered the Demon under her breath. She was easily carrying and balancing the huge stack of boxes just behind her master. She navigated through the crowd with relative ease as well, steering around obstacles and people without being able to see them.  
  
"Honestly. You'd think we were visiting dentist offices," grumbled Faye.  
  
"I'm having fun!" said Amelia cheerfully.   
  
Sai merely gave a heavy sigh as she was pulled into the next store. When the sales people saw the stack of boxes and bags from other stores, they were always happy to greet them. She blinked in surprise as Faye pulled her out from under the stack by jerking her arm. They all hit the floor in a uniform pile where the demoness had been standing.   
  
"Hi. My friend here needs some new clothes." Faye pushed the confused demoness towards the sales people.   
  
Sai looked back at her and stared. "What should Sai do?"  
  
Everyone was looking at the redhead. "This is going to be more work than I'd thought."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Sai is not certain about this master." She had an armload of clothes and staggered around after her master.  
  
"Ooh, this looks good!" The redhead pulled something particularly revealing out of the rack. "What do you think?"  
  
The demoness blinked. "Sai thinks it looks too comfortable."  
  
"Well, that's an unexpected answer."  
  
Sai sulked visibly. "Sai is starting to think the master doesn't hate her as much as he should."  
  
"Boy, you do catch on quick don't you?"  
  
"Not really no. Sai is horrible at thinking. In fact, she has no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"This thing has issues," said Gai.  
  
"Great. I got a pet demon with issues," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"I know, let's go buy her some leather stuff. She'll feel better then," chimed Faye.  
  
"I'm not so sure that will work," said Amelia. "I think she thinks we're a demon for some reason still."  
  
"She's got reason to believe that. She should not be able to bond with anything but a demon," said Sesshoumaru. "I grow weary of this activity. It serves no purpose, and does not aid any of our efforts in any way. We should leave now. We have more than enough."  
  
"You're not welcome on this side of the fence buddy. You're stuck over with the boys. Ranma is the one who lets you run your mouth, not me."  
  
"Both of you do a lot of talking," muttered Ranma irritably. "At least Fluffy is quiet sometimes."  
  
"My name..."  
  
"...is Sesshoumaru. Yeah, I know. I don't care, you're the one in my head, I'll call you what I want."  
  
The demon growled angrily.   
  
"Don't go thinkin I ain't watchin ya. I may let ya out more than I should, but you start actin funny and we're gonna gang up on ya."  
  
"Master? Can Sai poke her eyes out with the needle she found in her shirt?"  
  
"No."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Can we please lose the stupid shoes? I'd rather go barefoot!" snapped Ranma angrily.   
  
"No," replied Faye as she handed the clerk at yet another large store a check.   
  
"We ain't waterproof ya know. We can't go wearin this crap all the time."  
  
"Ranma, how often does hot water fall from the sky?" asked Faye with a dramatic sigh.   
  
"Hey. I ain't about to let this become the preferred wardrobe either. You need neutral stuff so we don't change into a dress." Gai didn't like the way the conversation was going. "We aren't spending all our time as a girl ya know."  
  
The woman rolled their eyes. "Fine. We'll pick some things up for just running around in." She turned into the first store door she passed by and paused for a moment.   
  
It was a military surplus store, no weapons, but just about anything you could want for being outside. "Oops," muttered Faye as she started to turn back.  
  
"Hey. This place is great. I need a new backpack," said Ranma as he noticed the camping bags hanging along one wall. "I've had this one for years."  
  
"They have active support clothing for women? What kind of magic would be in such clothes?" Sesshoumaru stared at a particular package that had caught his eye for a long moment as they stopped moving towards the bags.   
  
"Doofus. This is to hold your boobs down when you exercise," said Faye. "It's just really flexible fabric."  
  
"We need these," said Amelia as she made them grab a few packages.   
  
"What else?" grumbled Faye.   
  
"Hey. Some of this stuff wouldn't be too bad either," said Ranma as he noted some of the clothes around the room.   
  
"Yeah. We'll look good in it either way!" said Gai cheerfully.   
  
"Camouflage? No! This isn't going to work." Faye was adamantly against it.  
  
"We will spend a lot of time in the wilds in our travels. These clothes could aid us." Sesshoumaru seemed interested in what was around him as well. "Humans created these? Fascinating."  
  
Amelia seemed confused. "Um, how is this going to help us? I'm not a big fan of green."   
  
"It's so people can't see ya. If you're in the trees or bushes it makes you really hard to spot," explained Ranma. "Fluffy said stuff will be lookin for us. Maybe we can spot em first if we wear stuff like this when we travel."  
  
"Yep. That's pretty much it," agreed Gai.  
  
"Oh all right, fine," growled Faye irritably.   
  
"What about Sai?" asked Amelia.  
  
"She doesn't need them remember?" replied Sesshoumaru. "We do not need to worry about her. I admit, I am unfamiliar with what sort of creation she is exactly. It will be most interesting to find out."  
  
"Yeah, whatever," grumbled Gai. They had their arms loaded with supplies and gear they had pulled off the shelves during the conversation on their way to the register. All of them had been doing this.  
  
She hefted it onto the counter and smiled at the dumbfounded salesclerk. "Um, will that be all?" He was a rather handsome lad of about eighteen.  
  
"Maybe," said Faye as she leaned over the counter. She noticed a cup of hot tea in his hands and backed away immediately. "I think this will do for now."  
  
The boy's manager appeared immediately with a huge grin on his face. He was an older balding man with a few teeth missing. "How can I help you?" The young man stumbled back, spilling his tea onto the counter. The redhead gasped as her hand didn't move away in time.   
  
Nothing happened.   
  
"That was close!" gasped Amelia nervously.  
  
"Guess it wasn't enough," agreed Faye with a relieved tone.   
  
"Guess again," said Sesshoumaru as he pulled his hand off the counter and flexed his hand to break some of the ice off of their fingers. "I cannot protect us from more than a trivial amount. Such spells take too much time to cast."  
  
"Thanks," muttered Ranma.  
  
"Just remember these little things when I ask you for something boy," said the demon coldly.   
  
"Don't forget what he is though," growled Faye.   
  
"Be glad we're here to help you. You trust him too much Ranma," added Amelia. "He's a demon, listening to him won't do us any good."  
  
Gai decided it was best to remain silent. He didn't want to admit it, but Sesshoumaru was a scary guy.  
  
"He's stuck the same as us," replied the boy. "I don't trust him, but it ain't right to let you guys do all this stuff and leave him with nuthin, even if he is a demon."  
  
"Are you insane?" snapped Faye.  
  
"I ain't sayin I'm gonna let him kill nobody or nuthin," grumbled the boy sourly.  
  
"By the time you realize he has it'll be too late!"   
  
"Ranma is right," said Amelia weakly.  
  
"What?" said the woman's voice in disbelief.   
  
"He's stuck the same as us. I don't think we should trust him either, but we can't just pretend he isn't there either. We shouldn't let him talk so much, but we shouldn't stop him either."  
  
"He still can't use magic without me," said Ranma coolly. "If he kills anyone, I'll cut him off and he knows it."  
  
"That won't last forever," growled the demon.  
  
"You sure?" asked Gai. "Other than a few truces and agreements, we haven't had much change in our little world. I don't feel overpowered by evil. I think I'm still the same heroic guy I always was."  
  
"He won't try anything until he's sure he'll win," replied Faye.   
  
The manager and sales clerk were both looking rather nervous. The woman had not moved for several moments after she lifted her hand from the counter. She seemed to notice them again all at once. "I believe I already had all the help I needed." She turned her eyes towards the young man and smiled. "Could you ring me up?" Fortunately for her the tea had only gotten on a few plastic bags. She leaned over the counter pushing her breast forward in his direction as she played with the digital screen on top of the register with her fingernail.  
  
The oldest of the pair shuffled away with a heavy sigh.  
  
The boy was having trouble working the machine and kept glancing up at her nervously.   
  
She merely smiled at him and his eyes quickly fell away.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Wow. This is downright creepy," said Gai. He was peeking at the boy's chest muscles under his button up work shirt. He was Chinese, and well muscled. He also had a handsome face and dreamy, if a little dazed, eyes.   
  
"I was hoping for something a bit older." Faye seemed to be thinking about it as the boy fumbled about nervously. He was still ringing things up.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"This pleases you?" asked Fluffy. "A rather scrawny specimen."  
  
"Should we be looking at this?" Amelia seemed quite embarrassed by where she was looking. "I feel strange."  
  
"Yeah, kinda like when they made us climb the rope in gym class," agreed Gai.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Ugh, how uncultured can you be?" muttered Faye irritably. "I think he'll do. It'll be better for Amelia that way."  
  
"Um...I'm still not so sure about this..."  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
The boy's body was very fit. Her eyes were wandering up and down his side as he shifted nervously about. He was bagging up her things, and having a hard time opening the bags.   
  
She smiled at him as he finished and handed her a receipt.  
  
"W-will that be all?" muttered the boy as he glanced over at his boss. The man was sitting in the office glaring at the two of them irritably.   
  
"That depends. What time do you get off? I need someone who knows the area around here. I promise it'll be fun."  
  
"Oh god," said the boy as he stared at her for a long moment. "Uh? What?"  
  
"I'm asking you out? What's the matter? Attached?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Um, I'm awake right?"  
  
"Does it matter?"  
  
"Good point. I get off at six."  
  
"Good. I'll see you then."  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
The redhead turned away from the counter with a confident smirk on her face. "Come on Sai."  
  
The large pile of boxes standing by the door turned around revealing another cute girl. She was wearing an expensive looking black dress and high heels. She was giving him the strangest look as she followed the woman out.  
  
"Master? Are you going to consume his soul this evening?"  
  
"What? No!" said the redhead as she whipped her head around. "We're going to have sex with him."  
  
"We?" said the demoness in confusion.  
  
"That's right. You're going to help the boys cope."  
  
"What?" said the little demon as she kept up beside her master easily.   
  
"Are you sure you're all right with that?" asked the redhead.   
  
"Of course not! Sai's arms are very sore, and her feet will blister nicely. Will the master use razor blades to help her infect them?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh." The cute demon thought about it for a while. "What about a spanking? Sai has several spiked paddles she can be beaten with if the master wishes?"  
  
"Quit saying things like that in public!" snapped the redhead angrily as several pedestrians' heads swiveled around to stare at the pair. "Look. Maybe you do need a spanking, but we'll talk about it later all right?"   
  
"Ranma, you're going to have to handle this," said Faye irritably. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?"  
  
  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Hold on there a minute. Maybe the kid could use a hand with it." Gai seemed quite happy with the implied solution. "Wait a minute? What paddles?"  
  
"Her behavior perplexes even me," agreed Sesshoumaru.  
  
Sai frowned behind the cover of her boxes. She was going to have to get punished sooner or later. She didn't understand why her master hadn't started to beat her. He only seemed interested in defiling her body with his evil seed. "Sai is to help corrupt that innocent later?"  
  
"We'll, I'd like to think he'll enjoy it," replied the redhead flatly.  
  
"Why?" asked Ranma's pet in confusion.  
  
"It'll be more fun for me that way," replied Faye calmly.  
  
"Oh." It was clear that she had no idea what her master was talking about.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sighed with relief as she dumped what was in her arms onto the bed at the hotel. "We can't stay here forever ya know. We gotta carry all this crap around with us, all of it can't go with us."  
  
"I know, we'll be here for a little longer though," said Faye. "We still need to talk to that old woman. We'll do that tomorrow sometime. We might have to stick around for a little while."  
  
"That will be problematic. I would not expect a peaceful stay," replied Sesshoumaru. "I cannot stop you of course, but I do feel I should warn you for my own sake. There are things hunting us as we speak. Sooner or later, we will be found."  
  
They made themselves busy hanging up their newly acquired clothes in the closet.   
  
Sai was standing and watching this. "What should Sai do?"  
  
"Put your clothes away," replied the redhead without looking back. "Use that little dresser over there."  
  
The demoness simply nodded and followed her instructions. Boxes quickly filled the floor of the room along with discarded bags.   
  
The redhead piled them neatly by the trash and dusted off her hands. "Well, that takes care of that."  
  
"So now what?" grumbled Ranma. He was obviously in a bad mood.  
  
"Stop being such a stick in the mud. You'll have fun, whether you'll admit it or not is another story," teased Faye.  
  
"I'm not exactly looking forward to this either." Gai decided to put his two cents into the equation.   
  
"I am rather curious," replied the demon.   
  
"I don't think we should do this to them. It isn't right," muttered Amelia.  
  
"It's too late to back down now. We had a deal," said Faye coldly. "I think he'll surprise you."  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Oh, would you snap out of it?!" grumbled Faye.   
  
"I dunno. I kinda see his side of this better than you two." Gai seemed very nervous. "Maybe we should talk about this again..."  
  
"No," replied Faye flatly. "I'm not spending the rest of my life without a man. I don't particularly care what you two have to say about it all right? This is bad enough as it is."  
  
"So?" muttered Ranma lamely. "I ain't gonna stop ya." Their whole body tensed up and the redhead clenched her fists.   
  
"Right. Just remember, I've already done this for you."  
  
The muscles relaxed slightly, but Ranma wasn't happy and he didn't care who knew about it. "You do this on yer own."  
  
"I'm already taking care of it, all you have to do is nothing. Don't try and get in my way."  
  
The redhead's frown deepened and she growled.   
  
Sai's head popped into their field of vision. She was covered in small burns and appeared to be smoking. She was peering curiously into their face. "The master looks very evil today. Perhaps punishing Sai will help him feel better?"  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" asked Ranma as she stared at the little demon.   
  
"Sai was putting her finger into the electrical outlet. She deserves it."  
  
"Stop that! You're gonna burn the whole place down!"   
  
"That would kill hundreds. The master should be very pleased with that."  
  
"No! Bad demon! No killing anyone unless I say so!"  
  
"Yes master," grumbled Sai with a heavy sigh as she sulked away.   
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What do you make of it?" asked the balding manager of the military surplus store.  
  
His salesclerk was standing in front of his desk leaning against the back of one of the chairs. He looked a lot calmer and more serious. "I dunno. Could just be a hot date."  
  
"She bought a lot of outdoor supplies," pointed out the manager. "Nothing really suspicious, but...there's something about her."  
  
"Her bust-line. Jeez old man, did you see that?" said the boy as he stared at his boss for a long moment.  
  
"Yes. I'd noticed that. I'd rather you let me deal with her myself. She's obviously a pro. Martial arts, she had weapons hidden on her also. This isn't something to be taken lightly, someone like that just walking into our office. We have no record of her. The photos taken here were the first ones we know of."  
  
"Yeah. I'm sure," replied the boy calmly. "Mom'd love to hear about the young hot thing that walked into our store, and just how hard you stared down her shirt."  
  
"Women like that like to hide things in places like that."  
  
  
  
"Yer nuts," said the boy as he stretched his back and resumed his position. "Too bad we don't see more women like that around here. Who knows, she might actually be interested in hunting?"  
  
"Yes, but what?" asked the old man. "I should be the one doing this. You're not..."  
  
"I'm the one with the date," replied the boy as he grinned at him.  
  
"I know. That's why you're not going. You don't stand a chance against someone like that. If my suspicious are true..."  
  
"If they're not, I'll regret this for the rest of my life. You said it yourself; she doesn't have a record. I'm going, whether you like it or not." The boy narrowed his eyes at his father and stood up tall.  
  
"Heh. Find out what you can, but remember..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not employed like you are."  
  
"That's right. You're not even supposed to know about this operation. Hiding it became too difficult, but you are still not allowed to know what goes on behind this door. This is not something to toy with boy. Just knowing who I am is one thing as you are my son. Finding out more...that changes things. I do not wish to lose my son. You are not going."  
  
"Stop me," replied the boy as he smirked at him. "After all, it's just a date."  
  
"No. It is too dangerous," snapped the old man angrily.  
  
The boy glared at his father angrily. "I'm going."  
  
"Damn it boy!" snarled the old man.   
  
"Relax, it's just a date. I'll play dumb. Even if she is what you think, she won't think I'm useful. It's not that much of a stretch for me not to know, remember?" The boy walked out of the room leaving his father holding his face in his hands.   
  
The man sighed heavily and sat back in his chair to laugh to himself. "Such a stupid boy. Does he really think I don't know?" His son was older than he looked. The boy hadn't aged much after about sixteen. Right after he vanished for about a week while he was away once. He shuffled a few papers on his desk and looked at the door. "Kidnapping indeed." Two criminals the government couldn't get charges to stick on had picked up the tab on it and were 'captured'.   
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Two old women sat in the living room of a small home in the suburbs of Hong Kong. They sipped at two steaming cups of tea and conversed casually.  
  
Cologne sat across from her old friend. Shu ho, the woman's student was in another room sleeping. It was a relatively lazy day.  
  
"It has been an interesting year."   
  
"That it has." Cologne narrowed her eyes at the woman.  
  
"I suspect you wish to speak of that boy?" Ling smirked as her companion sighed heavily.  
  
"I do not know what to make of him. I know he is too dangerous to leave unchecked."  
  
"I suspect he is something we have not seen before. The demon within him is tamer than any I have seen before. He speaks nothing of our struggle, nor does he insult our gods. It is strange in one possessed. I am not a kind face to such a creature. I do not think that boy is trying very hard to hold him back."  
  
"I see. Interesting, but still uncertain. The demon obviously wants something, and it thinks it can get it with that boy."  
  
"Possibly, it may have accepted the fact that it is trapped with them as well. Cologne, I told you long ago of things I could see that you could not."  
  
"Yes. I remember."  
  
"This boy, he is something our kind has been awaiting for a long time. I can feel it deep within my old bones."  
  
"False hope can be dangerous, he is powerful, but for good or ill we do not know."  
  
"Nothing borne of darkness could do what I have seen him do."  
  
"I have seen similar things, but he is unstable, and wavers between light and darkness. He is strong, there is little doubt of that."  
  
"Stronger than you think," replied Ling. "Only yesterday, I thought I would have to abandon Hong Kong to an eon of darkness. The contract was strong, and we could not break it. Not one of our number was strong enough to face the evil that consumed that place in the south. I do not have to worry about that any longer."  
  
"I know of what he did. The Triads forced him to do it. In return, they would consider lifting the contract on his head." She smiled at Ling coldly.  
  
"He will have little trouble dealing with that," replied the other old woman calmly. "I've seen him for myself now." She sipped at her tea and put it back down calmly. "I do wonder how he managed to acquire such a contract in the first place."  
  
"If he joins you, I shall have it removed personally. I'm in the area anyway, and it does some good to scare the goons occasionally. Keeps them in line. Just showing up in person is enough these days." She chuckled to herself and smiled warmly.  
  
Ling shook her head. "There is more."  
  
"Eh?" Cologne looked surprised.  
  
"Tell me, do you know what a soul well is?" Ling sipped at her tea and put it back down on the table.  
  
"You have spoken of them before."  
  
"That boy, found and destroyed at least one that I know of. We have never even found one before. We think some of the disappearances in our past may have something to do with it. They are well hidden, and servants of the light are blind to them, and powerless once they enter such a place."  
  
"I...see."  
  
"My hope is not false. That boy is much more than he seems. I think his power is much greater than he lets on. Those weapons of his are not minor magical artifacts either. They are powerful, too powerful for you and your tribe to face without heavy loss."  
  
The old woman nodded. "This is more serious than I had thought then."  
  
"Indeed. I will be seeing him sometime tomorrow I suspect. I will tell you what I can when I find out more about him."  
  
"I am relieved to hear what you have to say about him. However, he is too powerful to just wander freely about. If you cannot convince him to join, he must be destroyed, whatever the cost may be."  
  
"I will do what I can. You know I will not stop you if you choose to fight him. I cannot aid you unless he has proven himself a threat. You know what I'm speaking of." Ling narrowed her eyes at Cologne.  
  
"I do not think that will take much time if my worries prove true."  
  
"I pray you are wrong."  
  
"As do I. Still, it is better to err on the side of caution."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"That guy's a martial artist. He's gotta be." Ranma frowned as they looked at themselves in the mirror. He was wearing a skimpy red form fitting dress that really pushed her bust up and out. The charcoal gray and dark blue outfit he'd worn home was lying on the floor and several other outfits were scattered messily on the bed.   
  
Sai was wearing something similar, but in black leather. She was standing beside the bed with curling irons in her hair and green goo on her face. She seemed content to simply wait for her master to explain what was going on to her again. The concept of getting 'laid' usually involved stealing someone's soul as far as she could remember. She'd been doing it for thousands of years now.  
  
"Why do you say that?" said Faye lazily.  
  
"I can see it in how he moves around. I guess he was actin kinda stupid, but I know em when I see em. Bet he could tell with us too."  
  
"You know, we never did get that guy's name," said Gai lazily.  
  
"Well, I suppose we'll have something to talk about. It's better this way, he'll be thinking about us all day. Wondering what our name is, hoping we look as good as we did earlier."  
  
"Stop saying us! This is you all right!?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"I was talking about Amelia," replied the woman with a girlish sigh.   
  
Ranma grumbled irritably but backed off. "How much longer is this gonna take?"  
  
"Don't worry, we'll be done in an hour or so," said Faye.  
  
"Wow. I look easy," said Amelia in wonder.  
  
"Good. Tonight that's the plan."  
  
"Sai, you can take the curlers out now," said the redhead over her shoulder.  
  
The demon gripped one of them really firmly and started to pull.  
  
"Unroll them Sai, I don't want you to mess up your hair."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Anyway, I hope you're right. He should be really flexible then."  
  
"Um, are we sure about this Miss Faye?"  
  
"Ugh. How many times do I have to tell you? It's just Faye. I hate when people call me 'Miss'."  
  
"Sorry. I'm just a bit nervous that's all."  
  
"Don't worry your head one bit. Once we get started, you'll be just fine."  
  
"I won't," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Stop complaining! We've been through this."  
  
"Don't forget, we've got to see that old woman tomorrow," said Gai.   
  
"Yeah, yeah," said Faye. "We don't have to worry about that until then. You're not ruining this for me."  
  
"We can't stay here forever, we should move on soon. See this woman if you wish, but within a week we should move to the west again for a time. We can return for the trip home then."  
  
"What about that guy at the store?" said Amelia.  
  
  
  
"What about him?" grumbled Gai.  
  
"Well, I guess we can do it, if we only have a week anyway. We might be able to work something out," said Faye. "To be perfectly honest, I'd like to try it myself."  
  
"I ain't no stupid model!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Fine. Me and Amelia will do it ourselves then."  
  
"I'd like that. We may never get a chance like this again!" The girl sounded like she really did want too.  
  
"Great. How much of this girly crap do I gotta put up with?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Since you're stuck with us, quite a bit," replied Faye.  
  
"I can only take so much," grumbled the boy.  
  
"I agree. You girls aren't taking over, this is still his body," agreed Gai.  
  
"Yeah. How convenient for your side," said Faye. "All right. Look, I'll admit today was a bit different than what you're used too..."  
  
"Are you nuts? I've got a date in two hours with a guy! A guy!" cried Ranma.  
  
"And you'll have fun, if you'll just relax and remember that it's not you, it's us girls. What the hell are you so afraid of anyway?"  
  
"I'm a guy! I shouldn't be doing stuff like this! It ain't right and it feels weird!"  
  
"Yeah, especially bras. How the hell do you put up with those things?" Gai was quite relieved Faye opted against wearing one. "I ain't too happy about the date thing either remember?"  
  
Faye sighed and made them hang their head. "Look. I'll put this into simple words for you. Just because the girl's side is having a bit of fun, it doesn't make you gay. You get to keep Sai, and have all the fun you want, as long as we get our end of it too. Don't forget neither one of us is gay either."  
  
"I'd like to point out, that I didn't like what you did with that thing much either," added Amelia. "I'm not totally for this, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life just sleeping with a demon."  
  
"No. I have plans to involve other women," interjected Gai.   
  
"Fine. We get to have guys then. It's the only way to be fair about this."  
  
"Life ain't fair," grumbled Ranma with a small humorless laugh. "Maybe I'll feel better about this in the morning."  
  
"If you don't think about it so hard, you will," advised Faye.  
  
"How do these animal fats and oils make us more attractive?" asked Sesshoumaru as they opened up a make up case and sat down in front of the mirror.  
  
"You know how to use these right Sai?"   
  
The demoness looked down at the makeup kit and nodded. "Sai used to run a whore house."  
  
"Oh. Good," said the redhead cheerfully as she started applying it.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
1/2 hour later...  
  
"My face feels heavy," grumbled Ranma. "Ugh, this is so weird. Hey, what the heck is this gonna look like if we turn into a guy again?"  
  
"I'm sure it won't be that bad," said Faye cheerfully.  
  
"Uh uh. No." Gai stood up and strolled towards the bathroom. He immediately turned on the sink and grabbed a wash cloth from the counter.   
  
"AAAAH! What the hell are you doing?" cried Faye angrily as he started scrubbing their face off.  
  
"I am not turning into a guy with make up on. You can wear a little lipstick, but I'm drawing the line on this one. We need to be able to wipe anything you put on off easily."  
  
"What?" cried Faye.  
  
"I'm with him. We don't need that crap!"  
  
They glanced back at Sai again. She was long finished with applying her makeup. Having eons of time to perfect her skills had made it a rather short affair.   
  
"Fine! I'm keeping the skin care stuff though!" Faye seemed pretty mad at them all. She sighed heavily and hung her head. "This isn't working."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma. "Man. I'm tired of talkin about this stupid date. Can we just go now?"  
  
"Didn't we put on a black dress?" asked Amelia. They looked into the mirror and stared for a long time.  
  
"Those were black and white when we bought them!" Faye stared down at the outfit they had been wearing when they had returned. "What the hell is this?"  
  
"That? You pitiful fools are just now noticing it?" Sesshoumaru sounded quite smug when he spoke up.  
  
"This is something you're doing?" muttered Faye.  
  
"Not really no," replied the demon coolly.   
  
"What the hell is it then?" asked Ranma.  
  
"The demon blood we infused ourselves with contained within it a rare gift. Hellfire is powerful dark magic. It burns within us always, we had to learn to hold it inside us, but it still has effect on anything that remains so close to us for such an extended period. Anything we wear becomes a valuable magical artifact. Clothes exposed to hellfire become impossible to burn after a short time. The change is the magic taking hold, it is nothing to concern ourselves with."  
  
"Oh." Gai seemed impressed.  
  
"Great," grumbled Faye. "How the hell am I supposed to pick out an outfit if I don't know what color it will be in an hour?!" She paused. "It...looks better this way actually. Hmmm."  
  
They had their hair done up in a bun on the back of their head and looked themselves up and down for a moment. "Come on Sai."  
  
"Ranma, this sucks!" said Gai in horror.  
  
"Tell me about it," agreed the boy.  
  
"No! We're a total babe! There's no way we can't get laid tonight!"  
  
"That's the spirit! Come on Sai!"  
  
"Sai will consume the spirit for you master!" Her wings poked out of her back and she looked around with a wicked leer.  
  
"No. Never mind, we're going to have sex with that hot young sales clerk."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Thus, the pair left the room and went on their way.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What can you tell me?" asked the clerk as he smirked into his extremely complicated looking wristwatch. He had a small earpiece held in place with his fingers.   
  
The image of an older Chinese woman appeared on a small screen. "Nothing."  
  
"Huh?" The boy stared at the screen dumbly.  
  
"I'm afraid I have no information based on the data you have supplied. You need to find out who she is, who she's working for, and why she just walked into the office."  
  
"Great."  
  
"When do you meet with her?"  
  
"About an hour."  
  
"I do not know how dangerous this assignment is, please use the utmost caution when dealing with her. We have no idea who she is."  
  
"She's definitely Japanese."  
  
"Yes, we know," replied the woman calmly. "Given the report you submitted I'd say she's very dangerous."  
  
"I can handle it," replied the boy.  
  
"I certainly hope you can."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Dressed and waiting already?" Ranma smirked as she leaned against a street sign and looked her date up and down.  
  
He was dressed in a black leather jacket and a pair of jeans. "Yeah," he muttered as she scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Girl like you doesn't show up at a place like this very often."  
  
"I suppose not," she said as she walked up and took his arm. "Where are we going?"  
  
The boy seemed surprised at her action for a moment and started walking with her down the sidewalk. "Um, I know a nice place not too far from here."  
  
"Good," she replied cheerfully.   
  
"You still haven't told me your name."  
  
"I didn't catch yours yet either," she replied simply.  
  
They walked along together for a while in silence.  
  
"Well?" he asked after a while.  
  
"Faye, Faye Valentine."  
  
"Strange name for a Japanese girl."  
  
"I'm a strange mix."  
  
"American?" he asked.  
  
"No," she replied with a small chuckle. "I live in Japan. I'm on a training trip."  
  
"Ah, Martial arts?" he said with an understanding nod.  
  
"You didn't notice? I did."  
  
"Course I did!" replied her date.   
  
"Are you going to tell me your name or not?"   
  
"My name is Hsu."  
  
"Just Hsu?"  
  
"Everyone calls me that," he replied simply. "Only my parents call me by my full name, and I like to keep it that way."  
  
"Come on Sai," said the redhead over her shoulder.   
  
"Yes Mistress," said the demoness. She bounced up next to her and peered at the boy walking with them.  
  
"Um, who is that and where did she come from?"  
  
"Hsu, this is Sai. She works for me, a sort of personal servant. Say hello Sai."  
  
"Hi," said the cute girl in a deadpan tone. She looked at him blankly and turned her head towards 'Faye' again.   
  
"Um, right," said Hsu nervously.   
  
His date cheerfully pulled him forward. "Is she coming with us?"  
  
"Of course she is," said the redhead cheerfully.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"I've found him." A dark shadow stared at the pair as they walked by from a nearby alley. It was a tall and lanky figure hidden in darkness. Despite his slim build he was very muscular. "What should I do?"  
  
"Eliminate him," replied a thickly accented voice from the other side of the small radio in his hand.   
  
"As you wish," replied the man with his own heavy eastern European accent. He lit a cigarette to reveal a thin jaw and short cut bleach blonde hair. "Eliminate him. Feh. Not as easy as it sounds, that slippery bastard."  
  
The man smirked to himself as he turned away into the shadows around him. "The woman with him. I wonder who she is? Maybe I'll be able to get my hands on her, make him come to me. Should be fun."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Hsu was more confused than ever as he sat staring at his date across the table. The girl with her didn't actually look any younger than her 'Mistress'. He was praying very hard that she wasn't sent to kill him. "Oh god. I've never asked for much, but please make this one on the level!" The rational portion of his brain was winning out though. It was growing more and more unlikely.   
  
"You like working at that place?" she asked him.   
  
He was trying very hard not to focus on her chest, as she was pushing her cleavage as close to his face as the table would allow. "It's not bad. What about you? I don't know anything about you."  
  
"Huh? Not much to tell I'm afraid."  
  
"Well. What do you do for a living?" He felt somewhat out of place the way he was dressed. It was a nice place, but not quite up to dressy clothes. If anything, she was overdressed. It occurred to him that perhaps that was a poor choice of words. He was starting to feel warm and grabbed the water off the table.   
  
"I hunt demons," she replied cheerfully. "I got an offer to do some modeling today. I'm thinking of taking advantage of it."  
  
The boy sprayed the area in front of him with water. The redhead blinked as Sai found herself soaked. She smirked at the pathetic scene before her. He was trying to apologize to Sai while dabbing a napkin on her breast struggling through a fit of coughing.  
  
The little demoness was sitting like nothing had happened at all. "If you wish to play with Sai's breasts, all you have to do is ask."  
  
The boy froze and went completely red.   
  
"Not yet," whispered the redhead as she kicked her servant lightly under the table.  
  
Hsu sat back in his chair and looked down at the table. It was getting to the point where he didn't much care if she was sent to kill him or not. "Were you sent to kill me?" he blurted out.  
  
"No. Should I have been?" asked Faye as confusion seemed to appear on her face for a long moment.   
  
"Good," he replied as he slowly nodded his head. "It's nothing. Oh look. Our food is here."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sucked on his teeth as he leaned against the bar of the establishment they had decided to visit next. Pop music played in the background and the dance floor was full. She downed a shot and smirked as she stared at her reflection for a moment in the mirror behind the bar.   
  
Sai was sitting quietly next to her and they had been there for almost an hour and a half. Hsu was currently in the bathroom.   
  
"Sure is taking him a while," she commented as she glanced down at Sai.  
  
"Human males only take this long if the defecate," replied Sai.  
  
Her mistress gave a sour frown and shook her head.  
  
"If we have to go through all of this, don't expect this to happen much in the future," grumbled Sesshoumaru.  
  
"The payoff is worth it," replied Faye simply.  
  
"Drink another one," grumbled Ranma.   
  
"Will you quit complaining?" said the woman's voice irritably.  
  
"I wouldn't mind another either," said Amelia nervously. It was very clear she was having a difficult time keeping her nerves in order. "This is kind of embarrassing."  
  
"You're tellin me?" grumbled Ranma.  
  
"No kiddin. I don't feel right," muttered Gai.   
  
"At least you two have been quiet for the most part." Faye sighed.   
  
They downed another shot and got a bit of a smirk on their face. "Gimme eight more of these."  
  
The bartender shrugged and poured them out in front of her.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Think with your brain and not your penis! Agent Ninety-one, I advise the utmost caution. If she is a new operative with one of our enemies..."  
  
"I think she's just an eccentric person," said Hsu.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" The small old man on the screen of his wristwatch blubbered as if the very notion was absurd.  
  
"I'm at least sure she's not a threat to the security of our Nation. She's just weird, and a bit crazy. Too much money, and all that free time."  
  
"I'll take your assessment into advisement. You are to continue your investigation. I want proof that she is what you think she is. Do not let her tits cloud your judgement. I realize you are young, but this is exactly the sort of thing that costs operatives their lives. Find out what you can, and report back again."  
  
The boy smiled into the screen and saluted sharply. "Yes sir!"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Faye fell into his arms as soon as he stepped up next to her at the bar. "Oops, too much," she said with a drunken giggle. "Hey. I think I should head back to the hotel. Why don't you take me."  
  
"Sai could..." The demoness stopped speaking as her Mistress dug her heel into her toes. Her eyes welled up with tears as she stared down at her foot. "At last! The master has punished Sai!"  
  
Hsu was staring at her dumbly as he struggled to hold up the redhead in his arms. "Great."  
  
"Don't worry. I'll get us a cab," said Faye as she staggered towards the door.   
  
Hsu frowned as he noticed a group of leering men stroll suspiciously towards the door. There were three of them moving towards her. He started forward just as they reached her at the door. The leader held the door closed on her and moved to put his arm on her shoulder.  
  
Faye narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"  
  
"Lookin for a good time? Me and the boys can show a lady like you..."  
  
The redhead promptly decked him. "Good lord. How cliché can you get? I'm not that drunk."  
  
Seeing their leader laid out rather soundly, his friends scattered like roaches. He flew into the middle of the dance floor from the blow, almost fifteen feet.   
  
Hsu smirked and put his hands into his pockets as she moved into the street and grabbed his arm as he exited. Sai followed behind them quietly and he glanced back at her.   
  
"How long have you two known each other?" he asked.  
  
"Sai has been the mistress's servant for almost a week now," replied the demoness.   
  
The two girls didn't have much trouble stopping a cab. They piled into the back seat. Hsu found himself sitting between them. Sai was sitting off to the side, while Faye hung off his shoulder and leaned against him.   
  
"Where too?" asked the driver.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
An ear splitting scream echoed through the darkness. No one heard this sound save a select few. It was coming from the inside of Ranma's head. Both if the males were crying out in disgusted horror as Faye pushed their tongue down the Chinese boy's throat as far as she could. She had him pressed against the door of her room and fumbled for the doorknob with her free hand. He wasn't resisting.   
  
Sai simply stood there and watched vacuously. After a moment she opened the knob her master couldn't seem to find on her own.   
  
"I do hope there is more to this than simply..." started Sesshoumaru. It was just about this point that the boy's hand moved a bit lower after they hit the floor of the room. "Oh. I see." He didn't sound real impressed.   
  
"..." said Amelia.  
  
Sai walked in after them as they crawled the rest of the way into the room while wrapped up in each other. The little demoness closed the door behind her and shuffled around them towards the bedroom.   
  
She watched them on the floor from the foot of the bed. She knew that sooner or later they would make their way to her.   
  
As it was, they were tearing each other's clothes off while he held her up against the wall. Within a minute the both of them were naked. He carried her over to the bed and they fell onto the sheets. It was about this time that Hsu seemed to realize that the other girl was still there.  
  
Faye smirked at her servant. "Come on Sai, I'm gonna need your help with this."   
  
Hsu stared down at her in confusion for a moment. Her tone had changed a little, it seemed almost somber.   
  
"As the Mistress commands," said a deeper and silky voice from the bedside.  
  
Hsu looked on dumbly as an amazingly attractive Chinese woman crawled forward from where the girl had been sitting. She was wearing the same outfit as the girl as well. "What the..." Faye's mouth stopped all argument as she pressed her lips firmly into his as Sai slid up next to them.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Heh. Next Time: The reaction, and...spy games. 


End file.
